President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa has had a difficult start to 2008. The
main reason for his and his government's difficulties has been that the radical
leftwing leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has recovered the political
initiative. López Obrador lost the initiative by persisting with his street
protests, about the unfairness of the 2006 elections and the illegitimacy of
Calderón's government, for far too long. Calderón's dramatic use of the army
to fight organised crime in 2007 gave him and his government momentum and
authority. Calderón's problem is that as the offensives have failed to deliver
even a substantially lower murder rate, let alone a "victory", his
authority has waned.End of preview - This article contains approximately 1417 words.
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