Outsiders & the Mexican Presidential Election

Mexico's National Action Party (PAN) has been fined approximately $13,000 for an endorsement made for its presidential candidate by Spanish ex-president, José María Aznar. Mexican election law clearly stipulates that parties must reject the financial, political, or propagandistic support of foreigners. Still, initially, I thought the accusation concerning the PAN/Aznar thing was probably a bit overblown (presidential electoral politics in Mexico being every bit as, uh, intense as here in the States). But it turns out it was a pretty clear case:

Aznar ofreció una conferencia el 21 de febrero pasado en la sede del PAN, que lo invitó a un foro, y ahí declaró que "espero, deseo que Felipe Calderón sea el nuevo presidente de México por el bien de todos los mexicanos y por el bien de este país".

El ex mandatario español (1996-2004) añadió que "México tiene que elegir entre una garantía como es Felipe Calderón y como es el PAN, y la incertidumbre; ahora tiene que elegir entre la estabilidad y la aventura, ahora tiene que elegir entre la seriedad política y la demagogia".

Essentially, Aznar spoke from PAN HQ and said things like: "Mexico has to choose between the guarantee of a candidate like Calderon (and a party like PAN) or uncertainty; between stability and risk; between dependable politics or demagoguery." Seems pretty clear (tho' he did say "como," twice).

For its part, PAN has been accusing the PRD candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of receiving the external support of, you guessed it, regular readers, Hugo Chávez, but they haven't been able to offer any proof:

El PAN ha asegurado que el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez está relacionado con la campaña de López Obrador, aunque no ha presentado ninguna prueba.