Mexico City – Mexico on Wednesday was investigating whether former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar violated Mexican law when he publicly expressed hope that ruling-party candidate Felipe Calderon would win the July 2 presidential election.
Speaking at a social forum at the headquarters of President Vicente Fox’s National Action Party in southern Mexico City on Tuesday, Aznar marveled at all Calderon, a former energy secretary, has been able to accomplish at age 43.
“Yes, I’m also here to say that I hope and wish that Felipe Calderon will be the new president of Mexico,” he continued, “for the well-being of all Mexicans and for the well-being of the country.” At his daily briefing with reporters the following morning, Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar noted that foreigners aren’t allowed to talk publicly about politics in Mexico. He said the Interior Department was investigating Aznar’s comments.
“The letter of our laws does not allow a foreigner to make these kinds of statements, the kind that he made yesterday,” Aguilar said.
Aznar may be called upon to answer questions about his comments, Aguilar said.
“If there was a violation of Mexican law … he will be summoned by Interior Secretary (Carlos) Abascal today so that he can be informed of Mexican law, which he surely was unaware of,” Aguilar said.
Beyond a dressing-down by Fox’s top-ranking Cabinet member, it was unclear whether Aznar would face any other punishment for his comments. Aguilar refused to say if he could be deported and ducked questions about whether the former prime minister would be welcome back to this country in the future.
Article 33 of Mexico’s constitution states that foreigners “cannot, under any circumstances, interfere with the internal politics of Mexico.” Violators face immediate deportation if officials determine that their presence here is “inconvenient for the country.” A spokeswoman for Calderon said the campaign had no immediate comment.
Most public opinion polls put the conservative Calderon in second place behind Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party. Lopez Obrador has led public opinion polls of Mexican voters for nearly two years.
In a statement, Lopez Obrador’s party criticized Aznar, saying his “transgression in this matter was not minor.”
“Jose Maria Aznar doesn’t know the reality of our nation,” the statement said. “Because of that he rates as positive the results of (the current) government that has been profoundly ineffective.”
A supporter of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Aznar’s conservative government was defeated in elections just days after the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid by suspected al-Qaida militants. The attack killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500.
