Felipe Calderón, presidential candidate for the National Action Party (PAN), criticized opponent Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday for inviting to his cabinet people he had previously accused of having too close relations with the former ruling party.

During a tour in the state of Tabasco, Calderón said López Obrador´s cabinet picks - Juan Ramón de la Fuente and José María Pérez Gay - had close ties to the rival Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In a visit to the hometown of both López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo, Calderón said he would not yet name his own cabinet, but rather that he would focus on identifying the problems that need to be solved.

.MERCADO

CANDIDATE PROMISES TO BOLSTER SECULAR STATE

Presidential candidate Patricia Mercado of the Alternative Social-Democratic and Farmers party committed to strengthening the secular state if elected on July 2 in a campaign event in Puebla on Thursday.

At a press conference, she said the government and its institutions should encourage a culture of tolerance by embracing new ways of living and thinking. She also said she would focus on women´s education as a way to reduce poverty.

.LÓPEZ OBRADOR

PRD PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE SPEAKS AT A RALLY IN CHIAPAS STATE

Presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas Thursday, saying that no community has suffered more discrimination and oppression than the indigenous people of this state.

Chiapas continues to be the poorest state of the nation, he said.

He signed a list of 33 commitments, including some that would improve the living conditions of the indigenous people of the region.

He also called for the rebuilding of towns destroyed by last year´s hurricanes and planting 400,000 hectares of trees to replenish the forests that have suffered from excessive logging in recent years.