A Talk With Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Recently you came out with charges of corruption against the brother-in-law of your opponent, Calderon.

His company received contracts from Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission when Calderon was energy secretary.

Do you think Calderon is corrupt?

Yes.

You said if elected you will give out many subsidies.

Yes, subsidies like the ones that are granted in the U.S . . . to farmers, agricultural businessmen . . . and cattlemen when it suits the public interest . . . to the elderly, to the disabled.

You have a rich country that needs to be developed?

It's a country with a lot of potential, but with bad government and a poor distribution of income. Eighty percent of all Mexicans have an income of about $500 a month or less. . . . I am not against businessmen. I'm against the corrupt ones.

Latin America has moved to the left under Chavez and [Bolivian President Evo] Morales. How would you position Mexico vis-à-vis Latin America?

To the left . . . like the rest of Latin America, but in accordance with our reality. Brazil and Venezuela and Bolivia do not have a 2,000-mile-long border with the United States.

So you cannot attack the U.S. as Chavez does?

No. I cannot do that. We have 20 million Mexicans in the U.S. Eighty percent of our international trade is with the U.S. So [our policy] has to be different.