Monday, July 12, 2010
AMLO-speak Revealed — He Met
with U.S. Envoy in 2006
By Victor Hugo Michel
On January 26, 2006, despite the refusal to hold talks
with the United States, López Obrador had a meeting with the then U.S. ambassador to present his national project.
At the beginning of his campaign for the presidency
of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador [AMLO] had a secret meeting that he did not report to the press, which took place in
absolute secrecy considering the possible political consequences: he went to the residence of the U.S. ambassador to present
his project on Mexico to the most powerful country on the planet.
López Obrador — who always boasted of not having
a passport, and of being absolutely independence from Washington, with his closest associates, presented his project at a
breakfast hosted by then U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza, according to declassified cables from the State Department in possession
of Milenio.
The breakfast took place on January 23, 2006, just
five days after López Obrador kicked-off his campaign in the country's poorest municipality, in Guerrero, a meeting that attracts
attention based on the insistent refusal of the Party of the Democratic Revolution [PRD) member to hold any talks whatsoever
with the Americans.
"AMLO and some of his advisers had breakfast with
the ambassador and key embassy officials, to discuss their ideas for the country," according to cable R240324Z. The embassy's cable reported the main proposals of the PRD candidate to Washington, which were followed
closely in the days before the the July 2, 2006 elections, and after.
Impressions from the breakfast and the start of the
campaign were apparently negative, and they suggest just how unconvincing López Obrador was with Washington.
"At least Felipe Calderon and Roberto Madrazo are
offering to push big structural reforms in order to stimulate economic growth. AMLO continues to offer populist generalities
such as the poor first, besides promising more government spending on social programs and infrastructure," the conclusions
of the cable state.
Based on the wording, it is clear that there were
phrases that caught the embassy's attention, both in the encounters with the PRD member and during the start of his campaign
in Guerrero.
"AMLO's populism: he promised to get rid of neoliberal
hypocrisy, that he said is used by the State to protect the powerful while ignoring the impoverished majority," the embassy
reported. "He is a leftist candidate," said the author of the communiqué, attributed
to the Political Affairs section of the diplomatic representation.
• • •
The documents, declassified by means of the U.S. [Freedom
of Information Act] at the request of this newspaper, reveal that after the post-election conflict erupted it was a PRD delegation
that took its turn to enter the [U.S.] diplomatic mission on the Paseo de la Reforma.
Local assembly members went to the embassy to convince
its political team — and by extension the State Department and the George Bush administration — that López Obrador
was not acting outside the law and that his party was not a mob of radicals.
The meeting was held on July 21, three weeks after
the elections, with the Paseo de la Reforma about to be taken over by supporters of the man from Tabasco [AMLO].
"Local PRD deputies in Mexico City presented us with
their party's arguments, and they expressed their concern due to the fact that the international community sees them as a
party of rebels," cable R261258Z says.
The text adds, after that a split was seen emerging
between some in the PRD and López Obrador, and that at least some of his followers ignored his orders. "The deputies gave
us guarantees that the PRD would accept the Electoral Court's final decision whatever it was, however they could not confirm
whether López Obrador would do the same," it adds. "But jokingly they told us
that López Obrador does not understand anything of electoral law."
• • •
But in the end the PRD arguments accomplished little.
On August 12, a cable almost buried the hopes of López Obrador to avoid a de
facto recognition, by Washington, of the victory of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa.
This is, presumably, the report that convinced the
U.S. government to give its support to the PAN.
"Our impression is that the PRD has not been able
to make a good case, nor has it presented evidence of irregularities in the majority of electoral districts," said the Office
of Political Affairs of the diplomatic representation in its P071811Z communiqué.
It added: "Consequently, we can only conclude that
the PRD has focused its efforts on convincing sympathizers, not the Electoral Tribunal, of its cause. It seems that AMLO's
distrust of the institutions ended up by becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy."
The cable was sent to Washington just three days before
the George W. Bush administration, for all intents and purposes, opted for Calderón — ignoring López Obrador's calls
not to formally recognize anyone — with a telephone call during which the U.S. President congratulated Vicente Fox for
the "success" of the elections.
——————————
"La
reunión secreta de AMLO con Tony Garza," Milenio, Mexico City, July 6, 2010; edited translation: MexiData.info
