The first of many clashes

The President remained calm and patiently waited for the shouts to fade. Juarez, Juarez, Juarez, chanted the PRI legislators. Vicente Fox then decided "if you can't beat them, join them" and chanted along with them. This seemed to work, because they stopped and Fox, in a sarcastic tone added "well, young men".

This was just the first of the many clashes between a resented party and the man who threw it out of power. The episode took place on December 1 at the ceremony where Vicente Fox was sworn in as President, the first one in 71 years that is not a PRI member.

The Juarez, Juarez shouting started when Vicente Fox began talking in his inaugural address about the education system in Mexico. The PRI argues, although he has repeatedly denied it, that Fox, a PAN member and therefore a conservative catholic will try to amend the constitution to institute religious education. Their shouts referred to Benito Juarez, the 19th century President who fought against the French invaders and their imposed Emperor. One of Juarez's most important legacies was the separation between the church and the Mexican state. That precept is widely accepted by most Mexicans, but many politicians, educated in a nationalistic and sometimes extremist tradition this means that the President must not show any sign of devotion.

Vicente Fox angered many opposition politicians because he went to a religious service before being sworn in as President. He has always stated that his religious beliefs (he is catholic) will not interfere with his duties as ruler, When he was governor of Guanajuato no religion was favored or promoted in any way by the sate government.

One other controversy -Among the many he caused on his inauguration day when he repeatedly broken the protocol- was that he added one sentence to the protest before the joint session of congress. One of the final sentences is "...Looking after the goodwill and prosperity of the union, shall I not do it do it, may the nation..." Vicente Fox said "...Looking after the goodwill and prosperity of the union, for the poor and marginal of this country, shall I not do it, may the nation..."

According to Mexican jurists, under Mexican law, Fox did not violate the constitution, he simply broke the protocol, but the PRI seems to be in a confrontational mood, they are already asking him to take protest again. This is just a taste of what is to come.

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