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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2006 
Fox Aide Urges Reform
 E. Eduardo Castillo - Associated Press
| | Mexico's President Vicente Fox (R) and his wife Marta Sahagun arrive in Montevideo November 3, 2006. (Uruguay presidency/Reuters) |
President Vicente Fox's spokesman on Wednesday urged constitutional reform to let Mexican leaders travel abroad without congressional approval, a day after lawmakers irked Fox by blocking his planned trip to Australia and Vietnam.
Fox's spokesman Ruben Aguilar harshly criticized the legislators for their decision, which came amid rumors that Fox was going to Australia to visit his daughter. Aguilar decried "the pettiness of Mexican political life" marked by "childish positions that speak of a low level of discussion."
"This administration believes that this article of the constitution has to be reformed because it causes unwarranted tension between the executive and legislative branches," Aguilar told reporters, saying that Mexico is one of the few countries where such rules exist.
Later Wednesday, Fox said the lawmakers' arguments were aimed at "generating an alarmist vision of our country. ... It's not valid."
The lower house of Congress voted 258-187, with six abstentions to deny Fox permission for an official visit to Australia from Nov. 12-16. From there, he was to have traveled to Vietnam for the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The Senate approved the trip, but either chamber can block it.
The trip would have been Fox's last international trip. He leaves office Dec. 1.
Legislators said they were upset that Fox wanted to travel abroad as a political conflict in the southern state of Oaxaca continued to smolder and small bombs presumably planted by guerrilla groups exploded Monday in Mexico City.
Fox went on national television Tuesday night to express his disappointment in the house's vote, saying it "goes against Mexico's interests" and was "clearly partisan."
Fox singled out Mexico's opposition parties for criticism, particularly the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI: "I regret that lawmakers from the PRI refuse to listen to the voice of the people and aren't capable of acting responsibly to resolve local conflicts."
That was an apparent reference to the refusal of the PRI governor of Oaxaca to heed calls to step down. Protesters have demanded the governor step down for months, sparking unrest that has left nine dead and driven tourists away from one of Mexico's top tourist destinations.
On Wednesday, the PRI leadership called Fox's accusations "offensive and baseless."
Fox's statement "constitutes an unacceptable discourtesy and an unforgivable challenge to the powers" of the lower house of Congress, the PRI's national executive committee said in a statement.
It was the second time Congress has exercised its constitutional power to block one of Fox's trips. In April 2002, the lower house denied Fox permission to travel to the United States and Canada, saying he was focusing too much attention on international events.
Also Wednesday, a group of lawyers filed a lawsuit against Fox, saying he has not paid them $3 million for defending him in a case over irregularities involving his 2000 campaign finances.
Monterrey-based lawyer Arturo Quintero told The Associated Press that he and two other lawyers filed the lawsuit in Mexico City after waiting more than a year to be paid. The suit also names businessman Lino Korrodi, who was Fox's financial manager during his 2000 presidential campaign.
Election officials fined Fox's National Action Party after they found the party had received money from outside Mexico and exceeded campaign spending limits, among other violations.
The presidency declined to comment on the lawsuit. |
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