Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 16, 2002
http://www.accessatlanta.com/
Susan Ferriss – Cox Washington Bureau
Mexico City — He’s usually the object of leftist scorn, but President Vicente Fox’s decision to scrap a trip to Texas to protest the death penalty has won him a shower of praise from the Mexican left and conservatives alike.
On Wednesday night, Fox canceled a trip he was to take to Texas this month — including a meeting with President Bush — as ”repudiation” of Texas’ decision to execute a Mexican citizen despite Fox’s pleas for a reprieve.
Using unprecedented vigor for a Mexican president, Fox tried to stop the Wednesday execution of Javier Suarez Medina, 33. Fox personally called Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Bush. He also authorized a petition for a stay filed, in vain, with the U.S. Supreme Court.
”The presidential determination to cancel the trip to Texas is consistent with the defense of life, dignity and of the traditional posture of Mexico against the death penalty, and as such it deserves society’s full approval and support,” said the leftist Mexican newspaper La Jornada in an editorial Thursday.