Mexican President Vicente Fox backed away from another showdown with leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday, announcing that he wouldn't hold his annual Independence Day celebration in the capital's main Zocalo square to avoid protesters.
Lopez Obrador and his supporters had vowed to upstage Fox by refusing to take part in Friday's annual salute of "Viva Mexico!" delivered each year by the president. They are planning to take over the Zocalo for their own celebration, and some had feared clashes if pro-government revelers showed up.
Fox will move his ceremony to the small, central town of Dolores Hidalgo, 170 miles (270 kilometers) northwest of Mexico City, where Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo launched the first call for independence from Spain in 1810. The town is located in Fox's home state of Guanajuato, a bastion of support for his conservative National Action Party.
Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal made the announcement shortly after the Senate voted unanimously to recommend that Fox not travel to the Zocalo.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/14/mexico.holiday.conflict.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latestSupporters of presidential candidate for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador camp in front of the National Palace in Mexico City September 14, 2006, one day before the eve of independence day.