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Viewing cable 06MEXICO6867, ACONVERSATION WITH PRD MORAL LEADER CUAUHTEMOC

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discussthem with others. See also the FAQs

Reference ID Created Classification Origin

06MEXICO6867 2006-12-11 20:34 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Mexico

VZCZCXRO2070

PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTMDE RUEHME #6867/01 3452034ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 112034Z DEC 06FM AMEMBASSY MEXICOTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4537INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVERUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDCRHMFISS/CDR USNORTHCOMRUEAIIA/CIA WASHDCRHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FLRUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITYRUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDCRUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDCRUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDCRHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 006867

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2016TAGS: PGOVPINRPRELMXSUBJECT: A CONVERSATION WITH PRD MORAL LEADER CUAUHTEMOCCARDENAS

REF: MEXICO 04987

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUNSELOR CHARLES V. BARCLAY, REASONS: 1.4(B/D).

Summary--------

1. (C) On December 7, Poloffs met with PRD "moral leader"and founder and three time presidential candidate CuauhtemocCardenas to get his perspective on the events leading up toFelipe Calderon's inauguration as president. Cardenaslamented the damage done to the PRD's public image by AndresManuel Lopez Obrador's (AMLO) post-electoral protest tactics.He is optimistic that inter-party tensions will soon settle

and that the PRD will start to negotiate with the PAN onmuch-needed reforms. Cardenas gives Calderon and hisincipient presidency the benefit of the doubt and expectsthat with his superior political skills, he will be able topush reforms much further than Fox. End summary.

On the PRD----------

2. (C) Cardenas told poloffs that AMLO's protest tactics,specifically the two month long encampment in the Zocalo andon Mexico City's principal boulevard, as well as PRDlegislators' successful effort to block former PresidentFox's State of the Nation speech on September 1 (ref A) andtheir unsuccessful attempt to block Calderon's December 1swearing-in ceremony, have hurt the party's image. He fearedthat public dissatisfaction with the PRD would be reflectedin next year's municipal and state legislative elections, aswell as in the gubernatorial races in Yucatan and BajaCalifornia. Although inter-party tensions remain high,Cardenas is optimistic that the dust will settle "in a fewweeks" and expects the PRD will start acting less like aprotest movement and more like a normal opposition party.With regard to Marcelo Ebrard's recently inauguratedmunicipal administration in Mexico City (GDF), Cardenas

thinks the new GDF will eventually have to recognize and workwith Calderon. Speaking from his own experience as mayor ofthe city, he said it was impossible to run the cityeffectively without having a good relationship with thefederal government.

On Calderon-----------

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3. (C) Cardenas offered Calderon the benefit of the doubt,expressing personal respect for the president and acautiously optimistic prognosis for his administration. Hesaid he had met Calderon on a few occasions, but does notknow him very well. Overall, Cardenas' thinks the newpresident has both good intentions and the political skillsto push reforms further than Fox did. With regard toCalderon,s cabinet selections, he said that they representthe new president's "mold" or "ideology" and that there wereno surprises. He suggested that Calderon get out of MexicoCity and tour the country more. On policy, he thinks thatsecurity, creating jobs, and achieving real growth should beCalderon's main priorities.

Comment-------

4. (C) There has never been much love lost between Cardenasand AMLO, and both Cardenas and his son Lazaro CardenasBatel, Governor of Michoacan, were decidedly unsupportive ofAMLO during the presidential campaign and post-electioncrisis. Both refused to join Lopez Obrador in his Zocalorallies and other protests, and have also publicly recognizedFelipe Calderon's triumph (despite AMLO's call for thecontrary). Indeed, Cardenas, public criticism of AMLO'scivil resistance tactics was the first public evidence of adeep fissure within the ranks of the PRD. Ildefonso Aguilar,a trusted advisor to Cardenas, told poloff earlier thatCardenas was on "stand-by" mode, waiting for AMLO's engine torun out of steam. Recently, however, Cardenas renounced hisrole to head the GOM Commission organizing the official

observance of the Mexican revolution's centennial and theindependence bicentennial in 2010, in order to "maintain

MEXICO 00006867 002 OF 002

party unity." Cardenas' move is likely a tactical decisionto garner internal party support for his son Lazaro as the2012 PRD presidential candidate.

Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site athttp://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocityBASSETT

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