Mexico leftist election favorite likened to Chavez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A leading candidate for Mexico’s
presidential elections next year likened the leftist
front-runner to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday, in
one of the strongest attacks so far in the campaign.

Roberto Madrazo, the hopeful for Mexico’s main opposition
Institutional Revolutionary Party, said election favorite
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador resembled the Venezuelan leader.

The comparison came as Mexico and Venezuela were embroiled
in a diplomatic fight and withdrew their ambassadors from each
other’s countries.

Chavez, who critics complain is authoritarian and a
populist, recently upset Mexico by calling President Vicente
Fox a “lap dog of the empire” for backing U.S. plans for
regional free trade.

“They have very similar attitudes. I see authoritarianism
in them both, they think they possess the absolute truth and
are in permanent conflict with capital,” Madrazo told a news
conference for foreign journalists.

He said Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, and
Chavez both did not respect the rule of law and said foreign
investors would shun Mexico if Lopez Obrador came to power.

“I foresee the capital flight that happened in Venezuela
with Chavez’s government that I don’t want to happen here,” he
said.

He said Lopez Obrador had been in contact with Chavez aides
but did not give further details.

The leftist leads opinion polls for the July 2006 election
by some 10 points ahead of Madrazo, whose Institutional
Revolutionary Party ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century
before losing elections to Fox in 2000.

Madrazo, linked to the often corrupt old guard of his
party, known as the PRI, easily won the nomination at primaries
on Sunday.

His remarks came the same day that Mexico and Venezuela
recalled their ambassadors in an escalating dispute over
Mexico’s close trade ties to the United States.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez announced the
recall after Mexico threatened to withdraw its envoy if Caracas
did not apologize by midnight on Monday for remarks by Chavez.