Fistfights break out in Mexican Congress over inauguration of president

MEXICO CITY — Fistfights and shoving matches broke out in the Mexican Congress on Tuesday after leftist lawmakers, hoping to block the inauguration of conservative President-elect Felipe Calderón, stormed the podium and tried to seize control of the chamber.

Conservatives, surrounded by security guards, pushed back the protesting lawmakers and vowed to keep order until they formally bestow the presidential sash on Calderón in a ceremony in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday.

The fisticuffs underscore the deep well of bitterness that remains after the closest and most hotly contested presidential race in modern Mexican history and highlight the possibility that Friday's ceremony will be marred by violence.

Members of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, claim Calderón, a member of the National Action Party, or PAN, stole the July election.

"We're not going to allow this inauguration to happen," said Roberto Lopez, a PRD spokesman. "Felipe Calderón will not govern a single day in this country."

Calderón's transition office declined comment. Calls placed to the PAN headquarters weren't returned.

But Ruben Aguilar, a spokesman for outgoing President Vicente Fox, said Calderón will take over Friday no matter what happens in Congress.

Calderón won the July elections by less than 1 percentage point over populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But the charismatic leftist claimed widespread fraud and never conceded, even after the nation's highest electoral court pronounced Calderón the victor in September. For weeks his followers camped out in downtown Mexico City, snarling traffic and shuttering shops.

Last week, López Obrador declared himself the "legitimate president" of Mexico, strapped on his own presidential sash and began making plans for a "parallel" government. His supporters are planning a massive protest in Mexico City's central square, or Zocalo, to coincide with the inauguration Friday.

Though Tuesday's clashes signal volatile times ahead, the increasingly bizarre protests have taken their toll on López Obrador and his party. Polls taken weeks after the election show Calderón would now trounce López Obrador. Likewise, a poll in El Universal newspaper this week showed 64 percent of those surveyed opposed PRD moves to seize the chamber.

Calderón has promised to reach out to those who didn't support him. But his critics on the left say his Cabinet picks suggest otherwise.

So far, he has stacked his Cabinet with militants from his National Action Party.

Francisco Ramirez Acuña will be the new interior secretary, the government's No. 2 post in charge of domestic security and political affairs. The former Jalisco governor has been criticized for turning a blind eye as police detained dozens of protesters during an international summit in 2004.

Critics said his appointment could signal a departure from Fox's hands-off approach to demonstrations.

Ramirez Acuña pledged to respect human rights and work with unions, rural organizations, university students and opposition parties.

The U.S. Embassy announced Tuesday that former President George H.W. Bush will attend the inauguration, welcoming the Harvard-educated Calderón, who has promised to be tough on drug trafficking while maintaining close U.S. ties.

Drug violence and political violence have rocked Mexico in recent years as Fox, the first opposition president in 71 years, generated widespread frustration with his inability to usher in reforms, alleviate poverty or secure a U.S. migration accord.

Additional information from The Associated Press