6. AMLO’s outrage
On April 8, 2022, it was the 16th anniversary of the impeachment of the current president of Mexico López Obrador, a legal process that began after Fox accused the government of the Federal District of violating a court order that demanded the suspension of the construction of a street, which was going to serve to create a space that would lead to a hospital.
Although the order was heeded, it was alleged that compliance was late and for this reason López Obrador was directly held responsible.
Former Senator Diego Fernández de Cevallos has recently pointed out that Fox was the main promoter of López Obrador’s impeachment.
According to Cevallos, the then president of Mexico pressured Gustavo Ponce, former finance secretary of the López Obrador government, who was imprisoned for fraud and illicit enrichment after appearing in a video betting in Las Vegas.
According to Fernández de Cevallos, Fox offered Ponce to release him if he testified against López Obrador a few hours before the 2006 presidential electionwhen candidates were prohibited from giving statements.
7. The Mexico-Venezuela conflict
During the six-year term of Vicente Fox, a diplomatic crisis also took place between Mexico and Venezuela.
This diplomatic conflict developed during November 2005 and resulted in the mutual withdrawal of the ambassadors of both countries.
The diplomatic tension between Fox and his then counterpart from Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, started a project that included the US and Canada because of the multilateral agreement Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
After the Mar de Plata Summit held in November of that year, Fox criticized Chávez’s position regarding the FTAA, considering that the Venezuelan “had reached extremes of inconsistency, lack of tolerance and will.”
Given this, Chavez responded: How sad that the president of a people like the Mexican lends himself to being a puppy of the Empire! (…) Mexico has suffered for years the outrage of North American imperialism.”
After the accusations, Fox and Chávez withdrew their ambassadors, although their relationship had previously been cordial.
8. Teacher conflict in Oaxaca
During the Fox government, the teachers’ conflict also took place in Oaxaca. This conflict began on May 22, 2006 when teachers from Section 22 of the National Coordinator of Education Workers, led by Enrique Rueda Pacheco, started a sit-in demanding to improve the quality of schools.
Five months later, the president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, ordered the sending of federal forces to Oaxaca to end the conflict.
The first police officers arrived in two planes, later, the Government demanded from the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) “the immediate surrender of the streets, squares, public buildings and private property” that they had taken in Oaxaca.
With this measure, the government tried to return normality to the capital of Oaxaca, where a violent day was experienced with shootings, explosions of Molotov cocktails and burning of vehicles.
This conflict damaged, above all, the tourism industry in Oaxaca. For almost a year, revenues have been declining, not only from the big hotels, but also from small family businesses based on tourism. This not only affected the conflict scene in Oaxaca, but also other tourist destinations in southern Mexico.
In 2016, Fox Quesada acknowledged that he received pressure from his successor, Felipe Calderón, to send federal forces to Oaxaca, since it depended on this to guarantee that the PRI was present at the presidential inauguration held on December 1, 2006.
9. “Two-legged washing machines”
In February 2006 in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Fox was also in the middle of the controversy after he made an unfortunate comment.
During a tour, Fox assured that in his administration, 75% of families in Mexico already had a washing machine, but “not two-legged or two-legged, but metal.”
“He looked terribly bad and even more so when he is the president of all Mexicans, for me it is an insult. For this reason, we will demand a public apology”, responded the secretary of the Equity and Gender Commission, Margarita Martínez Díaz.
Later, in a newscast TV Azteca, Fox offered a “full-length” apology for his words; however, he mentioned that there was no offense on his part.
“Of course there is no offense on my part, but if someone interpreted it that way, some woman who is watching me, I apologize, but very broadly, very broadly, with the issue of washing machines,” he said.
