7:50 PM CST on Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY – Tens of thousands of trade unionists, farmers and leftists marched through downtown Mexico City on Wednesday to protest price increases for basic foods like tortillas – the staple of Mexico's poor.
The march represented a challenge to President Felipe Calderon's market-oriented policies and one banner read "Calderon stole the elections, and now he's stealing the tortillas!" But it was also a setback for his archrival, leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who protest organizers prevented from speaking at the demonstration ...
"El Peje is the obvious leader of the poor," said housewife Carmen Rosete, 50, calling Lopez Obrador by his nickname, a reference to a combative fish from his home state of Tabasco.
Corn farmer Servando Olivaria saw it another way. "This is a spontaneous people's movement, with no political affiliation," Olivaria said. "Lopez Obrador can participate, but he should not head the march. He should not even speak about it." ...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/020107dninttortillamarch.109c34a.html