Fighting for democracy in Mexico

Maggie says:
In case you haven’t noticed, major happenings are going down in Mexico, where old-school politics are at work once more. Cronies of current president Vicente Fox are trying to destroy Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel López Obrador’s chances to run for president through a pretty public intimidation campaign threatening him with prosecution. López Obrador’s offense was overlooking a court order related to road construction in Mexico City – a pretty big deal when compared with major human rights violations in Mexico’s past that went unprosecuted, right?

The real crime here is that López Obrador is extremely popular – he’s polling at triple the numbers of the other parties heading toward the 2006 presidential election. Fox is pushing for a desafuero against López Obrador, which would bar him from running for the presidency (Fox himself is barred from running due to term limits). Fox justifies his political maneuvering by touting a respect for law and order in Mexico, a pretty empty sentiment given past abuses by Mexican officials that have never been punished, much less admitted.

Mexico is fascinating politically – a country where democracy has been dubious at best, yet in a moment’s notice thousands of citizens will fill the Zócalo holding signs and chanting slogans, as they did for López Obrador last week. What a powerful testament to democracy against the entrenched corruption of the past. Many think Fox’s moves will backfire, the Zócalo demonstrations ("No al desafuero!") will keep growing, and Fox may have unintentionally handed López Obrador the presidency.

(I know some m-pyre readers know lots more about Mexican politics than me, so please fill us in as this story unfolds. Who is López Obrador, really? And what does this scandal say about democracy in Mexico today?)