Massive Protest In Mexico

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Massive protest march in MexicoPosted on Mon, Apr. 25, 2005MORE THAN A MILLION SUPPORT EMBATTLED MEXICO CITY MAYOR CHALLENGING PRESIDENT FOXBy Susana HaywardKnight RidderMEXICO CITY - More than a million people overflowed Mexico City's streets Sunday to protest the prosecution by federal officials of the city's mayor and presidential hopeful Andrés Manuel López Obrador.Mexico City police estimated that 1.2 million protesters joined the so-called ``March of Silence,'' which would make the protest the largest march for democracy in Mexican history. Marchers wore white masks over their mouths and carried signs with the mayor's picture that read, ``We are with you'' and, ``You're not alone.''Opinion polls have given López Obrador a large lead in advance of Mexico's 2006 presidential election. López Obrador advocates reducing Mexico's dependence on the United States, criticizes free trade and emphasizes creating jobs for the 40 million Mexicans who live in poverty.However, he has been in a legal limbo since April 7, when Congress voted to strip him of political immunity so he could be charged in a murky land expropriation case.Federal Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said López Obrador disobeyed a March 14, 2001, court order to stop building an access road to a hospital.A conviction would torpedo López Obrador's presidential campaign, and delays in the case could prevent him from registering as the Democratic Revolutionary Party's (PRD) presidential candidate before a January deadline.The mayor denies the charge, and the federal case suffered a setback Friday when a judge sent charges of abuse of authority back to the attorney general, who said he would refile the case.The huge, peaceful rally on a sunny, hot Sunday suggested that the mayor's political momentum is growing, at least for now. His only rival for the PRD nomination, party founder Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, joined farmers in straw hats, middle-class workers, wealthy families with balloon-carrying children and PRD lawmakers.Led by the mayor, they met at the golden statue of the Angel of Independence in downtown Mexico City's wide Reforma Avenue and joined thousands of other protesters at the city's main plaza, the Zócalo, where the mayor announced to thunderous cheers he was returning to work today.``The case is dead,'' said López Obrador, who already has begun his presidential campaign in several states.López Obrador claims the charges were drawn up by President Vicente Fox's administration and other political rivals to keep him out of next year's race. Fox has denied the allegations.Much of the mayor's popularity stems from new spending on government-funded construction and social programs that provide everything from pensions for the elderly to school notebooks for young children.He outlined similar proposals on a national scale before a sea of protesters Sunday.``The proposal we have is to establish in our country a state of well-being, a state of equality and fraternity, in which the poor, the weak and the forgotten find protection against economic uncertainties, social inequalities,'' he said. ``There are sufficient resources in spite of what they have taken from us for more than five centuries . . . that well-administrated, can allow giving security to all Mexicans, from the cradle to the grave.''Sunday's march was similar in size to a silent protest in June 2004 against soaring violent crime rates in Mexico City and the failures of law enforcement -- described at the time as the largest demonstration in recent history.The marchers set off fireworks, confetti and waved giant banners showing Fox of the conservative National Action Party and other political leaders in black and white striped jail suits at hearing the news. Many called for Fox to resign.``When Fox came to office five years ago, most Mexicans thought we finally had democracy,'' said 33-year-old secretary Alexandra Ponce, wearing a cap with the yellow Aztec sign, the insignia for the mayor's left-of-center PRD party.``But his attempts to jail the mayor is obvious to all here that they're disrupting the democratic process,'' said Ponce, who voted in 2000 for Fox, the first opposition leader in 71 years.Fox has said the case is not political, but a legal procedure to show he meant it when he said that no one was above the law.Most people interviewed Sunday, however, said that the case against López Obrador is a political plot to prevent him from running for president.-----------------------------------------------------------I'm happy that the people are cheering for the Mexican mayor. The only reason why the U.S - puppet country want this guy in jail is because he is a leftist.