Mexico is in rocky state as Fox gives final address

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Sept. 1, 2006 12:00 AM
AP Photo

MEXICO CITY - Things are not turning out the way Vicente Fox had planned.

Tonight, the Mexican president gives his final State of the Union address before stepping down on Dec. 1. It was supposed to be a triumphant farewell, thanks to the country's stable economy, strengthening institutions and new government openness.

Instead, things are a mess in Mexico.

Demonstrators have blockaded eight miles of Mexico City's main avenue to protest election results, snarling downtown traffic in the world's second-biggest metropolis after Tokyo. A teachers strike has exploded into anarchy in the southern city of Oaxaca. Labor violence has cast a cloud over the government. And there is still no official word on who will be the next president, nearly two months after the election.

Security is extra-tight outside the Chamber of Deputies, where Fox will give his speech, because leftists have vowed to disrupt the event. Hundreds of riot police have set up tall metal barriers around the building. Armored trucks with water cannons are standing by.

The unrest could eventually endanger Mexico's stability, Fox warned this week.

"We cannot throw overboard the things we have built with so much effort," he said.