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September 2, 2006 [LINK]
Leftists forestall Fox's speech
The battle for Mexico's future escalated even further yesterday, as President Vicente Fox was prevented from giving his annual state of the nation speech to the Mexican congress yesterday. Boisterous delegates from the Party of Democratic Revolution blocked the entrance to the chamber, and Fox finally gave up rather than risk a fistfight by forcing the issue. The shocking demonstration was apparently calculated to catch the Fox government by surprise, because most of the police had been deployed outside in the Zocalo. To their surprise, however, there was no gaterhing of PRD supporters who were rumored to be preparing to assault the legislative chambers. Meanwhile, the PRD delegates inside staged their mini-insurrection, bringing the country's official business to a halt. See Washington Post. Losing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador seems committed to risk everything in order to get his way, and the way he has been behaving, it seems very unlikely that he would accept any electoral result other than a victory by him. Day by day, he and his party are becoming increasingly discredited in the eyes of the world. Even the Catholic Church, which owes no favors to the political establishment in Mexico, and which is generally on the "progressive" side of social issues, is turning against AMLO. Last week Cardinal Norberto Rivera expressed exasperation with the "crazy" people occupying the streets of Mexico City. It is hard to believe that a country with as much to proud of as Mexico could let itself teeter on the brink of anarchy just because an election was so close.
The coincidental arrival of Hurricane John on Mexico's Pacific coast served as an apt reminder of the high state of nerves and potential for mass-scale violence if this confrontation is not resolved soon.
Mexican bird expert jailed
As if the recent turmoil spreading from the teachers' strike in Oaxaca wasn't enough, a prominent birdwatcher in that state has been arrested and put in jail on weapons possession charges. Amnesty International has taken up the cause of Ramiro Aragon Perez, who has been training local Indian people to serve as guides for birdwatchers visiting from other countries, as a means to tap into "ecotourism" revenues for the benefit of poor people. The World Wildlife Fund helped fund this project. He also belongs to Oaxaca People's Popular Assembly, the apparent reason for which he was subjected to persecution by forces loyal to embattled Gov. Ulises Ruiz. See El Universal. During our trip to Mexico in 2003, Jacqueline and I were amazed to find such a wide variety of tropical and semi-tropical birds in Oaxaca, and in Mexico City as well. If the spirit of neighborly collaboration signified by NAFTA has any meaning at all, the cause of wildlife conservation in Oaxaca is something that all nature lovers in the United States should be concerned about.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 02 Sep 2006, 4: 42 PM
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Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007: 
Category archives:
(all years)
Baseball
Politics
Latin America
War
Wild Birds
Culture & Travel
Science & Technology
This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 7, 2006 ~ DeLay gives up majority leader post
January 12, 2006 ~ Alito withstands Dems' "torture"
January 16, 2006 ~ Michelle Bachelet wins in Chile
January 19, 2006 ~ Views on Iran's nuclear ambitions
January 24, 2006 ~ Fallout from Canada's election
January 31, 2006 ~ Second (& third) thoughts on Iran
February 1, 2006 ~ The State of the Union, 2006
February 8, 2006 ~ D.C. Council votes "yes," but...
February 18, 2006 ~ Checks and balances in wartime
February 22, 2006 ~
Neocons & Neolibs: chastened alike
February 28, 2006 ~
The Dubai Ports World uproar
March 14, 2006 ~ New D.C. baseball stadium unveiled
March 24, 2006 ~ In the footsteps of France?
April 7, 2006 ~ Immigration compromise fails
May 16, 2006 ~ Bush militarizes Mexican border
June 6, 2006 ~ Alan Garcia triumphs, once again
June 9, 2006 ~
Zarqawi: The death of a terrorist
July 3, 2006 ~
Election in Mexico: too close to call
July 5, 2006 ~ North Korea goes ballistic
July 28, 2006 ~ Garcia prepares to lead Peru, again
August 4, 2006 ~ Israel invades Hezbolland
September 6, 2006 ~ "Crunchy conservatives": for real?
September 25, 2006 ~ Nationalists thwart conservation
October 3, 2006 ~ Nationals: Year in review
October 29, 2006 ~ Virginia's marriage amendment
November 7, 2006 ~ The people render their verdict
November 8, 2006 ~ Republicans lose big time
November 9, 2006 ~ Allen concedes / Election post-mortem
November 13, 2006 ~ Toward consensus on Iraq?
December 1, 2006 ~ Realism and our goals in Iraq
December 6, 2006 ~ Latin America & U.S. trade policy
December 8, 2006 ~ Iraq Study Group reports
December 22, 2006 ~ Yuletide political roundup
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
- War
- Science & Technology
- Politics
- Latin America
- Culture & Travel
- Canaries ("Home birds")
- Baseball (FIRST)
Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)