|
||
| THIS WEEK | |||
MEXICAN ELECTIONS
NARRATION
NEVER BEFORE HAVE MEXICANS EXPERIENCED SUCH AN INTENSE AND EXCITING
PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST. THE INTITUTIONAL REVOLUTIONARY PARTY, KNOWN AS THE
PRI, HAS MAINTAINED ITSELF IN POWER FOR SEVEN DECADES THROUGH TACTICS THAT
HAVE PREVENTED OPPOSITION PARTIES FROM MOUNTING A SERIOUS CHALLENGE.
BUT THIS YEAR, ELECTORAL REFORMS HAVE REDUCED THE LIKELIHOOD OF VOTE FRAUD, AND PROVIDED THE OPPOSITION ITS BEST CHANCE EVER AGAINST THE POWERFUL PRI.
THE MAN WHO IS GIVING THE RULING PARTY THE FIGHT OF ITS LIFE IS VICENTE FOX, CANDIDATE OF THE CONSERVATIVE NATIONAL ACTION PARTY. POLLS SHOW HIM IN A VERY TIGHT RACE WITH PRI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FRANCISCO LABASTIDA. POLITICAL ANALYST, SERGIO SARMIENTO, SAYS MR. FOX COULD WIN.
SERGIO SARMIENTO
“He is the only candidate who has had a chance of winning the presidential
race, coming from the opposition, in the entire history of Mexico.”
NARRATION
A CONFIDENT VICENTE FOX IS ALREADY SPEAKING ABOUT WHAT KIND OF GOVERNMENT
HE WILL HAVE.
VICENTE FOX
“We’ll have a democratic government, a transition government. We will
have to transit from a monopoly of power, which has been the PRI, into
a real democracy. So, we are going to integrate all political forces, all
Mexican citizens, into the participative democracy in Mexico that we are
promoting.”
NARRATION
BY PROMISING TO FORM A MULTI-PARTY GOVERNMENT, MR. FOX HAS DRAWN SUPPORT
FROM A NUMBER OF PROMINENT FIGURES FROM SMALLER PARTIES AND EVEN A FEW
FROM THE PRI ITSELF.
BUT FRANCISCO LABASTIDA, WITH THE HELP OF THE PRI’S WELL-ESTABLISHED
MACHINERY, IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. HE SPEAKS OF THE 71 YEARS OF
SOCIAL PEACE THE PRI HAS GIVEN MEXICO
BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE TALKS OF A “NEW PRI” AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
FRANCISCO LABASTIDA (voiceover in English)
“My strongest commitment is to the fight against poverty.”
NARRATION
WHILE MR. LABASTIDA’S PROPOSALS HAVE DRAWN SUPPORT, HIS CRITICS SAY
HIS PARTY AND CURRENT PRESIDENT ERNESTO ZEDILLO SHOULD BEAR THE BLAME FOR
THE FACT THAT NEARLY HALF OF MEXICANS LIVE IN POVERTY. BUT A LABASTIDA
GOVERNMENT COULD REPRESENT CHANGE, ACCORDING TO SERGIO SARMIENTO.
SERGIO SARMIENTO
“If we judge Labastida by what he has said in his campaign, we would
have a government that would be more populist than Zedillo’s government,
a bit less of a free-market government and that would intervene more in
the economic life of this country. He has specifically said that he would
use the resources of the state much more intensely to promote a better
distribution of income.”
NARRATION
EVEN MORE POPULIST IS CANDIDATE CUAUHTEMOC CARDENAS OF THE LEFTIST
PARTY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION. HE REMAINS IN A DISTANT THIRD PLACE
IN THE POLLS, BUT HE COULD TAKE OPPOSITION VOTES FROM MR. FOX AND THEREBY
HELP ASSURE A PRI VICTORY. MR. CARDENAS HAS REJECTED PLEAS FROM VICENTE
FOX TO QUIT THE RACE. SERGIO SARMIENTO SAYS THIS IS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE
RATHER THAN POLITICS.
SERGIO SARMIENTO
“Cuauhtemoc Cardenas does not want to resign and ask people to support
Vicente Fox because he does not agree with Vicente Fox. He thinks Vicente
Fox has an authoritarian streak in him, maybe he is partially right, and
he also thinks that Fox has many policies that are exactly the opposite
of what his own party and he himself represent.”
NARRATION
PLAYING A STRONG ROLE IN THIS YEAR’S ELECTION IN MEXICO ARE MILLIONS
OF YOUNG VOTERS. POLLS SHOW THAT A MAJORITY OF URBAN VOTERS BETWEEN THE
AGES OF 18 AND 29 SUPPORT VICENTE FOX BECAUSE THEY WANT A NEW, DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMENT.
WOMAN
“He is the best option for change.”
NARRATION
BUT MR. FOX’S BLEND OF MARKET-BASED ECONOMIC POLICIES AND HINTS OF
INCREASED PRIVATIZATION HAVE SCARED MANY OLDER VOTERS.
SO, IN THE END, THE CHOICE FOR MEXICO COMES DOWN TO A VOTE FOR A CONTINUATION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM, WITH SOME INTERNAL CHANGES, OR A VOTE FOR A CHANGE OF PARTY, WITH ALL THE RISK AND PROMISE THAT IMPLIES.
GREG FLAKUS, VOA-TV.
To learn more about the Mexican Elections see:
