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Mexican Ex-Leader's Statue, and Stature, Fall
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The financial allegations come out of the capital, Mexico City, where smash-mouth politics is common. But the assault on Fox's statue was notable because it took place in Boca del Rio, a laid-back beach town six miles south of Veracruz on Mexico's east coast.
The statue of Fox was donated by artist Bernardo Lopez, who also has sculpted statues of Pope John Paul II and Hugo Sanchez, a prominent Mexican soccer coach and former star player. The statue was erected before dawn last Saturday on the beach boardwalk that runs along a street named for Fox.
By first light, a crowd formed. The gathering grew more heated, according to Alfredo Ferrari, former head of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in the state of Veracruz, and the crowd surged over the statue, pulling it to the ground.
Boca del Rio Mayor Francisco Guti¿rrez de Velasco Urtaza said in an interview that the toppling of the statue was a "shameful act." He appeared at the scene and lofted the statue's severed right hand into the air, vowing it would be repaired and reinstalled.
Fox said Veracruz's governor, Fidel Herrera, bore responsibility, an accusation the governor, who is a member of the rival PRI, has denied. Ferrari, who says he does not condone the tearing down of the statue, nonetheless said it never should have been installed.
"The timing is bad," he said in an interview. "History hasn't made its judgment about Fox yet. It may be that he deserves five statues or thousands or none."
On Veracruz's boardwalk, known as "the malecon," shrimp fisherman Julio Rodriguez shook his head and said Fox was "a bad president, but it shows a lack of respect to tear down his statue."
A billboard with dozens of photos of Fox visiting the state of Veracruz has been erected next to the pedestal, with its twisted metal supports, that held Fox's statue. Barricades surround the pedestal and billboard. A police cruiser stands guard.
