ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


WorldView

Opposition Candidate Wins Mexican Presidential Election

Aired July 3, 2000 - 6:00 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: After 71 years in which his country has been under the total control of one political party, Mexico's president-elect promises a smooth transition. Vincente Fox, voted in on Sunday, is scheduled to take over in December.

Mexico City bureau chief Harris Whitbeck reports now on the end of one era and the beginning of another.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A day after the massive party at Mexico City's Independence Monument, Fox supporters eagerly awaited word of their president-elect's immediate plans. The object of so much attention spent the day holed up with advisers at his party headquarters in the country's capital. Many say the sooner he announces the details of his government plan, the better off the country will be.

SERGIO AGUAYO, POLITICAL ANALYST: And the challenge now is to make democratic institutions work, which is something, of course, completely different than to have free and fair elections. We had a free and fair election; now, we must make democracy work to solve the problems that we have inherited.

WHITBECK: Immediate reaction to Fox's victory has been positive. The Mexican stock market was the scene of feverish trading by investors confident of the country's continued political and economic stability.

Amador Contreras (ph) busied himself tearing down propaganda from defeated ruling party candidate Francisco Labastida's campaign. He did it because his job as an employee of Mexico City's sanitation department required it. It was only poetic justice that his political preferences matched his actions.

"It is time for change," he said, "so that people don't remain as ignorant as we have been forced to remain."

Alberto, a fruit vendor, says those changes are important because they could represent a better future for his children, though he knows they won't be immediate.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITBECK: And Mr. Fox will be discussing some of the changes he wants to implement with sitting President Ernesto Zedillo. We understand that they are starting to meet now. This will be the first time that they meet face-to-face since Fox won the presidential election late night -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Harris, just how corrupt is the system that Fox inherits and what if anything does he plan to do about that as he takes office?

WHITBECK: Well, he has said that he certainly wants to fight government corruption, but you have to realize that he's inheriting a system that for 70 years was basically in place. It was in place for so long that there was really no system of checks and balances to prevent any corruption.

So while the policy might be to fight that corruption, it's going to be very difficult, because, you know, corruption here in some instances can go from the highest level down to the lowest one, and it's going to be very, very difficult to change 70 years of tradition in, you know, shortly after -- in just one term of office.

WOODRUFF: And Harris, how much support does he have for even trying to do that from members of the legislative bodies, from local government?

WHITBECK: Well, he's got a lot -- he will have a lot of support in the legislative body, because his party, the National Action Party, won majorities in both the Senate and the congress, not absolute majorities, but enough of a majority to be able to change laws and to certainly have more of a voice.

The opposition coalition also won. There were two governorships up for contention in this race, and the National Action Party won both of those. So he is certainly coming in with a strong mandate as well, which is certainly good news to him as he tries to implement all of these changes.

WOODRUFF: All right, CNN's Mexico City bureau chief, Harris Whitbeck. Thanks very much -- Bernie.

BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Bill Clinton is applauding the handling of the Mexican election.

CNN's State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel reports on the view from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The victory of opposition candidate Vicente Fox over the world's longest ruling political party in the words of one senior U.S. official marks "as significant a political transformation as that which took place in Eastern and Central Europe in the 1980s."

President Clinton in a phone call praised President Zedillo for holding a free and fair election, and President-elect Fox for his democratic victor. Later in a written statement, Mr. Clinton told the Mexican people they "should be proud" and said the United States is ready "to enhance the close operation that characterizes the U.S.- Mexican relationship."

With a 2,000-mile border between them, $200 billion in annual trade, and 1 million border crossings every day, it's a relationship increasingly intertwined.

JAMES JONES, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO: The fact that they have shown that they're a democracy that's a competitive democracy I think is good for business.

KOPPEL: And President-elect Fox himself is seen as a man with whom the U.S. can do business. He's a Harvard graduate, former president of Coca-Cola in Mexico and Central America, and former governor, who lobbied to attract investment and create more jobs in Mexico.

Another top priority in the U.S.-Mexican relationship: the war on drugs. Administration officials say Fox has signalled he's ready to face the challenge of trying to stop huge amounts of Colombian drugs from transiting Mexico en route to the United States.

BARRY MCCAFFREY, WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY DIRECTOR: They have made some substantial progress against these drug -- criminal organizations, particularly along the border, but a lot remains to be done and Mr. Fox has really got his work cut out for him.

KOPPEL (on camera): One aspect of their relationship in which the U.S. and Mexico have rarely, if ever, seen eye-to-eye, the importance of encouraging democratic change throughout the region. Now that they share some of the same values, officials here are hoping that too will change.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.