Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:00 PM GMT
By Alistair Bell
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Bombs exploded at Mexican political and financial targets on Monday, rattling a country already nervous about unrest in a poor southern state and a deep political rift from an acrimonious election in July.
No one was injured in the blasts at Mexico's top electoral court, an opposition party's headquarters and a Canadian-owned bank in the capital.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombings.
A door was damaged and windows blown out at the electoral court, known as the Trife, which angered leftists in September for ruling that conservative candidate Felipe Calderon won July's presidential election.
Judges threw out claims of fraud by leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who held street protests that paralysed the centre of the capital for six weeks.
Glass and ceiling panels covered the floor of an annex building at the headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, near one of the city's main streets.
Ulises Ruiz, the PRI governor of Oaxaca state, is embroiled in a five-month conflict with protesters demanding he resign. Some 15 people have died and federal police clashed with demonstrators there last week.
An explosion also tore apart the metal and glass facade of a branch of Canada's Scotiabank in the south of Mexico City. A fourth bomb at another bank failed to go off and police found and deactivated a fifth device in a diner near the PRI headquarters.
The Foreign Ministry was evacuated when a caller warned of a bomb there but it was a false alarm, a ministry source said.
PESO DROPS
Mexico's peso weakened 0.73 percent on news of the bombings but later recovered ground.
The bombings involved bigger devices than those sometimes set off in apparently politically motivated attacks on foreign banks in Mexico.
"If these bombs had been put in other locations they could have been lethal to a lot of people," Mexico City Police Chief Joel Ortega said.
Calderon, who takes office on December 1, condemned the bombings.
"The president-elect reiterates his belief that political or social demands should be made via institutional channels and with full respect for the law," his office said in a statement.
Calderon, a conservative former minister in President Vicente Fox's government, inherits a nation divided by the presidential election.
He won by less than 1 percentage point and opinion polls show more than 30 percent of Mexicans believe he won by fraud, despite the court and international observers declaring the race free of vote-rigging.
The crisis in Oaxaca, a tourist state famous for its mezcal liquor, also could blight his first days in office.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of the state capital on Sunday to call on Ruiz to quit. The governor, who critics say is authoritarian and corrupt, refuses to step down.
Protesters, who have paralysed Oaxaca City with barricades in recent months, denied any involvement in the Mexico City bombings.
"We have nothing to do with that. Our fight is peaceful and democratic," protest organiser Flavio Sosa told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Tomas Sarmiento in Oaxaca and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City)
_______________________
By Alistair Bell
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Bombs exploded at Mexican political and financial targets on Monday, rattling a country already nervous about unrest in a poor southern state and a deep political rift from an acrimonious election in July.
No one was injured in the blasts at Mexico's top electoral court, an opposition party's headquarters and a Canadian-owned bank in the capital.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombings.
A door was damaged and windows blown out at the electoral court, known as the Trife, which angered leftists in September for ruling that conservative candidate Felipe Calderon won July's presidential election.
Judges threw out claims of fraud by leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who held street protests that paralysed the centre of the capital for six weeks.
Glass and ceiling panels covered the floor of an annex building at the headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, near one of the city's main streets.
Ulises Ruiz, the PRI governor of Oaxaca state, is embroiled in a five-month conflict with protesters demanding he resign. Some 15 people have died and federal police clashed with demonstrators there last week.
An explosion also tore apart the metal and glass facade of a branch of Canada's Scotiabank in the south of Mexico City. A fourth bomb at another bank failed to go off and police found and deactivated a fifth device in a diner near the PRI headquarters.
The Foreign Ministry was evacuated when a caller warned of a bomb there but it was a false alarm, a ministry source said.
PESO DROPS
Mexico's peso weakened 0.73 percent on news of the bombings but later recovered ground.
The bombings involved bigger devices than those sometimes set off in apparently politically motivated attacks on foreign banks in Mexico.
"If these bombs had been put in other locations they could have been lethal to a lot of people," Mexico City Police Chief Joel Ortega said.
Calderon, who takes office on December 1, condemned the bombings.
"The president-elect reiterates his belief that political or social demands should be made via institutional channels and with full respect for the law," his office said in a statement.
Calderon, a conservative former minister in President Vicente Fox's government, inherits a nation divided by the presidential election.
He won by less than 1 percentage point and opinion polls show more than 30 percent of Mexicans believe he won by fraud, despite the court and international observers declaring the race free of vote-rigging.
The crisis in Oaxaca, a tourist state famous for its mezcal liquor, also could blight his first days in office.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of the state capital on Sunday to call on Ruiz to quit. The governor, who critics say is authoritarian and corrupt, refuses to step down.
Protesters, who have paralysed Oaxaca City with barricades in recent months, denied any involvement in the Mexico City bombings.
"We have nothing to do with that. Our fight is peaceful and democratic," protest organiser Flavio Sosa told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Tomas Sarmiento in Oaxaca and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City)
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Commnet by WeT_AhUiZoTe (Photos from www.eluniversal.com.mx)
Revolt in Oaxaca and last political election leftist party outcome can and are easily linked to the bombings that happened just yesterday. And that is exactly what Reuters and others reports do, whether national or international. It links not because neither APPO nor leftist coalition is violent, as Demonstrations in Oaxaca by APPO have been PEACEFUL avoiding as much as possible any confrontation with Ulises Ruiz paramilitary army. In addition Mr. Lopez Obrador big demonstrations against electoral fraud have also been PEACEFUL, avoiding even to graffiti Mexico City centre. But bombing are attached to them because in Mexican Media (TV, Radio and Newspapers) both have been criminalised and blamed for country's ingovernability. Who wins and Who loses. It is clear that APPO and leftist coalition find no benefit al all with the bombing.
Revolt in Oaxaca and last political election leftist party outcome can and are easily linked to the bombings that happened just yesterday. And that is exactly what Reuters and others reports do, whether national or international. It links not because neither APPO nor leftist coalition is violent, as Demonstrations in Oaxaca by APPO have been PEACEFUL avoiding as much as possible any confrontation with Ulises Ruiz paramilitary army. In addition Mr. Lopez Obrador big demonstrations against electoral fraud have also been PEACEFUL, avoiding even to graffiti Mexico City centre. But bombing are attached to them because in Mexican Media (TV, Radio and Newspapers) both have been criminalised and blamed for country's ingovernability. Who wins and Who loses. It is clear that APPO and leftist coalition find no benefit al all with the bombing.
It is also clear that the there are two winners with panic situation in Mexico. In the first place is governor Ulises Ruiz, as he is facing so much pressure to step down, now also Mr. Chavez an under secretary of the Interior Minister started to say that he has to go. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time PRI governor do this trick. Former governor Murat simulated his own assessination attempt. In the second place Mr. Calderon also wins as widespread fear would ground his entrance as the president with some legitimacy by either capturing some ‘terrorists and rebels’ from APPO, or a well-known corrupt governor.
In summary, we believe that the bombing means but a rude attempt to distract public and international opinion of Mr. Ruiz corruption and eventual resignation. Also, it means but a good starting point for a fascist-type of government that Mr. Calderon largely promised to Mexicans and overall foreigners.
In summary, we believe that the bombing means but a rude attempt to distract public and international opinion of Mr. Ruiz corruption and eventual resignation. Also, it means but a good starting point for a fascist-type of government that Mr. Calderon largely promised to Mexicans and overall foreigners.
