Mexico Protesters Vow to Stop Fox Address

By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Riot police, steel barriers, and water cannons surrounded Mexico's Congress as protesters vowed to stop President Vicente Fox from delivering his final state-of-the-nation address Friday, fueling fears the country's electoral crisis could turn violent.

Fox's aides have said the president will arrive at Congress no matter what for the annual political ritual. But he may not reach the podium.

On Thursday, Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal said the president of the legislature, Jorge Zermeno, will decide if conditions are appropriate for Fox to deliver his address. Zermeno is a member of Fox's National Action Party.

Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who claims fraud robbed him of victory in the July 2 vote, has not ruled out sitting with allied lawmakers who have promised to disrupt the speech.

Lopez Obrador also has called on his supporters to gather hours earlier in the nearby main Zocalo plaza for a rally that some fear could turn a mostly peaceful civil resistance movement into a full-blown rebellion. Thousands of protesters are already blocking the capital's center with weeks-old tent camps draped with banners calling Fox a "traitor to democracy."