Mexico's presidential race gets down and dirty

Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Posted: 1720 GMT (0120 HKT)

MEXICO CITY (AP, via CNN) -- Mexico's presidential race has gone sharply negative with attempts to tie the front-runner to Hugo Chavez and portray him as a leftist revolutionary in the same mold as the Venezuelan president.

After weeks of leveling unsubstantiated allegations that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign has been infiltrated by Chavez supporters, the conservative National Action Party went even further in a TV ad aired this month.

The commercial takes a clip from a diplomatic flap last year in which Chavez warned Mexican President Vicente Fox: "Don't mess with me sir. You'll get stung." Then it cuts to video of Lopez Obrador yelling at Fox: "Shut up, citizen president."

"Say no to intolerance," it concludes.

From 2,200 miles away in Caracas, Chavez spoke up to complain that "The Mexican right is using television spots ... to try and stop the rise of the Mexican left and of its presidential candidate."

(rest of story here)