elgatoloco - 9-2-2004 at 09:33 AM
Insults greet president's state of nation address
By S. Lynne Walker
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
September 2, 2004
MEXICO CITY ? As thousands of protesters clashed with riot police last night outside the Mexican Congress, President Vicente Fox called for a truce to
ease mounting political tensions.
Union members, infuriated by a reform that changed a government-funded pension plan, shoved against barricades and pelted police with rocks as a
heavily guarded Fox made his way through Mexico City to deliver his fourth state of the nation address.
Inside the Congress, Fox was forced to wait to give his speech while legislators shouted insults. After his address, more than 200 opposition
legislators turned their backs on him.
Raising his voice to be heard above the shouts of opposition legislators, Fox said, "I invite everyone to make a truce, renew dialogue and reach
agreements."
He warned that Mexicans might give up on democracy if their government doesn't make the changes they want.
"Society demands agreements," he said. "Let us hear its voice. Let us move from debate to results. A democracy that brings results ensures its
permanence."
But the rowdy response left little doubt about the unwillingness of opposition legislators to compromise. They leaped to their feet, howling like
dogs. They repeatedly booed, creating the climate of a sporting event rather than a presidential speech.
Fox urged Mexicans not to be discouraged by discord in the country's budding democracy. Although many are unhappy with his administration's lack of
progress on the problems plaguing this country of 100 million, Fox remains popular. Two newspaper polls yesterday showed his approval ratings above 50
percent.
"Democracy is not the absence of conflict. It is the freedom to debate problems and the best way to resolve them," he said.
"We can now speak, decide, criticize, argue and participate with the dignity of free men and women."
Fox's speech came on a day that served as a reminder of how messy democracy can be. Nearly 200,000 health care workers held one of the largest
nationwide demonstrations in recent memory, walking off their jobs yesterday in protest of reforms that require health system workers and other
government unions to pay more of their pension costs.
During their one-day strike, only emergency services were available in government hospitals and clinics across the country.
Electrical workers blocked some streets to protest proposals to open the state-owned energy company to private investment. The nation's capital was
paralyzed as police closed roads, shut down subway stations and set up a 2?-mile perimeter around the Congress.
While federal workers blame Fox for the pension-law change, the reform was pushed by the Institutional Ruling Party, or PRI, which Fox stripped from
the presidency after 71 years in power when he won the 2000 election.
The pension reform is one of the few major bills passed by the sharply divided Congress.
The president said his administration has achieved enviable goals.
The economy will grow 4 percent this year, creating an estimated 400,000 jobs. Foreign investment is up. Inflation and interest rates are at their
lowest level in decades. Those accomplishments make Mexico one the most stable countries in Latin America.
But most Mexicans don't feel the country is better off than when Fox took office, said political analyst Jorge Chabat.
"The country is not in flames. It's more or less stable. But obviously people voted for more than that," he said. "If you are not able to transmit a
sense of improvement to people, in political terms, it means nothing."
I saw most of the speech on TV
Tucker - 9-2-2004 at 10:24 AM
Although I didn't understand most of the audio, I did understand that the loyal opposition were the most rude people I have ever seen.