Fox Administration - Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco

Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco

In 2001, Fox announced the construction of a 2.3 billion dollar international airport in the municipalities of Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco in the State of México to relieve congestion at the overcrowded Mexico City airport, the busiest in Latin America. This new airport would bring thousands of new jobs to an area ravaged by extreme poverty.

The proposed airport plan would relocate 4,375 families and convert 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of farmland. Peasants from these areas resisted relocation and formed the Community Front in Defense of Land in 2002. The protests turned violent as protesters took hostages and state forces had to negotiate their release, while Fox announced no change in plans had been considered. After the federal government's failure to negotiate with the farmers, plans for the new airport had to be abandoned. The protesters, many of whom wore black ski masks made famous by rebels in Chiapas became instant heroes to poor farmers nationwide. while journalists, like Sergio Sarmiento called this issue "the biggest failure" of Fox's tenure and declared:

This is in spite of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. Jorge Montaño, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States considered Fox was "naive" to think farmers would easily give up their lands and that his government should have taken more time negotiating with the farmers instead of simply sending out engineers to measure runways and calculate flight paths. Montaño also declared that the compensation these farmers were offered were the minimum allowed under the law (3,000 pesos an acre, roughly 275 US dollars) before raising the offer to 21,000 pesos an acre (1,900 US dollars).

After the cancellation, 76% of Mexicans polled thought more unrest would follow the president during his term.

In May 2006, the PRD-led municipal government was attempting to relocate a group of flower vendors from a market of Texcoco. The group refused to leave and asked the assistance of the Community Front in Defense of the Land who confronted the police with machetes. The situation escalated and police officers were held hostage by the protestors. State and federal forces were sent to the site. According to municipal workers the protesters had felt invincible since the airport incident. The confrontation resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries. On November 9 of the same year, the Attorney General's office admitted to torture and sexual abuse against the protesters.

Fox blamed the Atenco group, led by Ignacio Valle, for the incident and ordered his arrest calling the group an "insult to society". In October 2006, two months before leaving office, Fox declared that the social conflicts of Atenco and Chiapas were solved and that Oaxaca would be solved before his successor took office.