VZCZCXRO0042
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #2702/01 1382344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 182344Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0901
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002702 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR MX
SUBJECT: AMLO'S THIRD ACT: NON-VIOLENCE AND THE MIDDLE 
CLASS TAKE CENTER STAGE 
 
REF: MEXICO 2408 
 
Summary 
 
¶1. (U) As the campaign season enters its final fifty days, 
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) candidate Andres 
Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) prepares to shift his strategy 
into high gear.  After fumbling through March and April, AMLO 
now finds himself in second place in most polls and looks to 
revise his strategy to focus on a message of non-violence and 
themes of interest to Mexico's middle-class.  In addition to 
reformatting his message on issues like employment and 
security, AMLO will also seek a change of scenery - holding 
events in large urban areas instead of poor, isolated 
municipalities.  AMLO will also surround himself with new 
advisors, further gutting Mexico City's cabinet.  Although he 
has stated publicly that there is no need to change the 
strategy in light of his new position in the polls, the 
changes come none too soon if he hopes to regain his lead. 
The only obstacle left may be his own words.  End Summary. 
 
Back in the City 
 
¶2. (U) With less than fifty days left before Mexican voters 
head to the polls, AMLO is preparing to implement the final 
stage of his campaign strategy - a shift that is actually a 
return to some of the strategies that have worked for him in 
the past.  Starting in June, AMLO will leave the comfortable 
confines of Mexico's poorer, more isolated municipalities and 
return to large-scale urban events - concentrating 
principally on the country's 32 capital cities, including 
Mexico City, which will be his final campaign stop before the 
elections.  The large-scale urban events will provide the 
campaign with more media coverage.  AMLO will also increase 
his media spending and outreach in an effort to counter the 
negative National Action Party (PAN) ads that have hurt him 
over the last three months.  Concentrating primarily on 
television, AMLO has already begun to expand his media 
exposure, agreeing to interviews on numerous Mexican talk 
shows, including the popular Televisa show hosted by Victor 
Trujillo and TV Azteca's Animal Nocturno.  AMLO continues to 
complain that he does not have the resources to fight ad for 
ad and compete in the "dirty war" launched by the PAN's 
Felipe Calderon.  AMLO hopes the increased media appearances 
and larger, more accessible urban events will help deliver 
his reformatted platform to middle-class voters, voters he 
lost to Calderon between March and April. 
 
Themes that Matter 
 
¶3. (U) As reported earlier (reftel), AMLO hopes to make up 
ground lost to Calderon by refocusing his campaign on themes 
that appeal to middle-class and young voters, who represent 
the majority of Mexico's independent "swing" voters.  Sources 
inside the campaign have told us AMLO will return to 
concentrating on issues such as jobs, crime, foreign policy, 
education, and macroeconomic stability.  Over the last two 
weeks AMLO has participated in two Consulting Council for an 
Alternative Project for the Nation fora, announcing his six 
foreign policy objectives and laying out his general position 
on education.  Organized by campaign advisor Porfirio Munoz 
Ledo, more events like these are expected in the future. 
 
¶4. (U) In addition to concentrating more on the issues, AMLO 
will also be trying to project an image of moderation and 
victimization by unscrupulous opponents.  This served him 
well in last year's desafuero process, eventually leading to 
the government dropping the charges against him.  He has 
warned of the electoral fraud his opponents are allegedly 
perpetrating.  This shift in message has something to do with 
the successful PAN advertisements suggesting AMLO is a 
dangerous leftist but it also reflects AMLO's need to 
distance himself from recent violent union strikes and a 
bloody confrontation between police and demonstrators in San 
Salvador Atenco.  At a recent campaign event, AMLO assured 
the crowd that only through peaceful and electoral means can 
Mexico change - he said he did not agree with the use of 
force, no matter the reasons.  He insisted that his campaign 
has no relationship with Subcommandante Marcos, said the PRD 
would continue to fight through electoral means, and insisted 
that the solution to the country's conflicts was dialogue, 
negotiation, and consensus.  He denied accusations that he 
was polarizing the country, arguing instead that the only 
thing polarizing the people is the economic inequalities 
perpetuated by President Fox and preceding Institutional 
Revolutionary Party (PRI) administrations.  AMLO also 
recently asked supporters to be on the lookout for electoral 
fraud, specifically the use of government funds to sway votes 
or outright vote buying. 
 
Campaign Musical Chairs 
 
MEXICO 00002702  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) As in his previous strategy shifts, the campaign's new 
direction will also require new blood.  AMLO recently called 
on a number of old allies from the Mexico City government to 
help.  The new members include: 
 
-- Secretary of Urban Development and Housing Laura Itzel 
Castillo; 
 
-- Secretary of Health Asa Cristina Laurell; 
 
-- Secretary of Transportation and Roadways Francisco Garduno; 
 
-- Citizen Attention Director Leticia Ramirez; and 
 
-- Secretary of Environment Claudia Sheinbaum 
 
Changes have already begun to take shape.  Socorro Diaz, 
federal deputy and Citizens Network Coordinator, has been 
relieved of her duties and will be replaced by PRD National 
President Leonel Cota.  Cota will be responsible for 
coordinating activities in the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, 
Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Colima.  Itzel 
Castillo will help coordinate activities in Oaxaca, Garduno 
in Hidalgo, Laurel in Chiapas, and Ramirez in Tlaxcala. 
 
¶6. (SBU) One person whose job appears safe is foreign policy 
advisor Dr. Jose Maria Perez Gay.  Rumors were heard that 
both Porfirio Munoz Ledo and Citizens Network Coordinator 
Manuel Camacho Solis were gunning for Perez Gay's position, 
using his frailty and lack of English as their main 
arguments.  According to separate PRD contacts, Perez Gay's 
role as foreign policy guru is perfectly secure for now. 
These contacts agreed that Munoz Ledo is not a good fit 
considering AMLO's foreign policy objectives and Munoz Ledo's 
outsized personality.  They both also confirmed that whatever 
problems existed between Camacho Solis and Perez Gay were now 
resolved and that Perez Gay's close personal relationship 
with AMLO will keep him in place. 
 
Comment 
 
¶7. (SBU) The campaign strategy shift represents AMLO's hope 
to regain the front-runner position.  The task is a difficult 
one, especially since AMLO's biggest obstacle is often his 
own mouth.  After weeks of keeping his promise to not mention 
Fox in any of his speeches in order to avoid further verbal 
confrontations, AMLO could not resist calling Fox a puppet of 
the U.S. and a man of straw for his allegedly weak reaction 
to U.S. plans to send the National Guard to the border.  This 
had echoes of Chavez calling Fox a puppy of the U.S., and it 
is only a matter of time before the Calderon campaign tries 
to capitalize on the gaffe.  End Comment. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
 
GARZA