President Vicente Fox said on Tuesday that Mexicans do not support "extremist" and "messianic" politics, in a thinly veiled slap at a leftist candidate who has launched street blockades to pressure for a full recount of last month's presidential election.
Fox's comments came a day after he told foreign journalists that his ruling-party ally, Felipe Calderon, was the "clear winner" of the disputed July 2 vote -- his strongest statement yet about the political crisis that has gripped Mexico for weeks.
Since July 31, supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have snarled the capital with round-the-clock protest camps, blocking streets and launching demonstrations to protest what they claim was electoral fraud that gave Calderon a narrow lead in official vote tallies.
"What we Mexicans want is stability, order and harmony," Fox said. "Society rejects extremist solutions, and messianic or apocalyptic visions that belong to the political culture of the past."
Analysts have frequently used the term "messianic" to describe Lopez Obrador, citing his followers' fervent devotion and the leftist's belief in his own personal sense of mission.
Meanwhile, in Oaxaca, masked men shot a protester dead as escalating violence increased pressure on Fox to intervene in a three-month-long protest by leftists and striking teachers.
Thousands of protesters calling for Oaxaca Governor Ulises Ruiz's resignation have occupied the southern city's center, stealing buses, setting up barricades and taking over radio and television stations to broadcast revolutionary messages. The protest started on May 22.
On Tuesday, a group of about 15 men in three cars, one with a logo of the city police department, drove up to a private radio station that has been occupied by protesters and sprayed the building with gunfire.
Protester Lorenzo Pablo, a 52-year-old architect, was hit and died. He was the second protester this month to be killed in the city.
A short time later, masked men fired on the car of freelance photographer Luis Hernandez, who had been at the scene of the earlier shooting. Hernandez was unharmed.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6. At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. Kim also criticized the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion.
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than