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Mexico US quakes as Mexico seeks new messiah A man walks past a poster of Mr Obrador Image 1 of 2 A man walks past a poster of Mr Lopez Obrador Image 1 of 2 By Alec Russell in Pachuca 12:05AM BST 28 Jun 2006 Mexico's Left-wing populist candidate closes an increasingly rancorous campaign today, hoping his impassioned appeals to rein in globalisation will spread Latin America's socialist tide. Of all the elections in Latin America this year this is the one that matters most to the US, which has had to watch its backyard slide to the Left in the last few years. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is neck-and-neck with Felipe Calderon, the favourite of the business elite, is an old-fashioned Left-winger who rails against the free-market policies that Washington has sponsored in the last decade. The silver-haired former mayor of Mexico City does not sound like Hugo Chavez, the demagogic leader of Venezuela who never misses an opportunity to attack Uncle Sam. It is the plight of Mexico's millions of poor rather than dreams of forging an anti-Yankee axis that energises his campaign. Related Articles * Mexican Left set to triumph 18 Jun 2006 * Mexican poll marred by shooting 25 Jun 2006 * Presidential campaign gets personal 28 Jun 2006 Garlanded in red flowers, he was treated as a cross between a pop star and a revivalist preacher as his campaign arrived in the small central town of Pachuca. He delighted the crowd with his calls for a return to state intervention, his denunciation of Nafta, the North American free trade agreement, and his reminders of the country's ever starker divide between "haves" and "have-nots". It is a powerful message ensuring that Sunday's election to choose a successor to President Vicente Fox, the former Coca-Cola magnate who ended 71 years of one-party rule, is all about AMLO, as the candidate is known after his initials. But his critics give warning that he is blind to reality, particularly the question of how to pay for his campaign promises. For America, the issue is how would his victory affect the flow of millions of Mexicans pouring over the border. "He has strong messianic tendencies," said George Grayson, a Mexico scholar at the College of William and Mary, in Virginia, who has written a biography of Mr Lopez Obrador, called Mexican Messiah. "Unlike Chavez and other regional populists he doesn't just talk the talk of fighting for the dispossessed, he walks the walk. The trouble is that he doesn't understand what has happened in the global economy in the last 40 years or so." It is this concern that has allowed Mr Calderon, the candidate of Mr Fox's National Action Party (PAN), to claw his way back into contention. He was trailing badly earlier this year until he started to demonise his rival as a danger to Mexico. The polls are now too close to call. If the deafening enthusiasm of the sombrero-wearing tuba player in Pachuca's brass band was a guide, then AMLO will be propelled by popular enthusiasm to take his seat in the presidential palace. "You are not going to see a divine caste in this country," he told the crowd as he reiterated his pledge to cut the presidential salary in half and prune cabinet ministers' wages. "Happiness will arrive soon." Cutberto Gomez Paredes, a gnarled 71-year-old farmer who used to support the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which ruled until 2000, is star-struck. He dismissed his hero's detractors who play up a scandal revolving around video tapes of one of his confidants receiving a briefcase of money when he was mayor of Mexico City. "The PRD (Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution) stole a bag of money. The PAN stole a big sack full of money. The PRI stole a truck full of money," he said. Mexicans can but hope the winner has a clear margin. In 1988 the PRD candidate was believed to have won but was cheated of victory by the PRI. Then the party's candidate, fearing violence, told his supporters to stay at home. This time they say that if their man is pipped at the post they may take to the streets. X Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! 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