MEXICO CITY — The National Action Party’s presidential candidate sought to shore up conservative support Wednesday by promising evangelical leaders his government would respect religion and be in line with Christian values.
The son of a founding father of the right-wing party known as PAN, candidate Felipe Calderón met behind closed doors with 46 evangelical leaders from around the nation.
“I made various pledges, to respect religious freedom, to respect the (law) under which the government can’t prohibit any religion, and that I would form a government with values and principles that I know coincide very much with all Christians,” Calderón said after the meeting.
Calderón, like most of Mexico, is Catholic, but the evangelists are a fast growing population as many as 15 million strong and could boost his campaign for the July 2 election.
Attendees and members of Calderón’s campaign confirmed the nature of the discussion, which comes as Calderón runs second in the polls to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party.
Pablo Orozco, an evangelical youth leader in Mexico City, said the two-hour meeting bolstered his support for Calderón.
“For us, he is the best candidate,” Orozco said. “He not only has the principles, but he serves as an example. He is the candidate that is vowing to defend the family by setting an example of physical, material and spiritual wellbeing.”
Juan Ernesto Pardinas, a Mexico City political scientist, said he expects Calderón won’t be the only candidate trying to woo the evangelists, who unlike their counterparts in the United States, don’t primarily support one political party.
“All of them will try to get close to the religious communities for support,” he said.
As for Calderón’s appeal, he said Calderón isn’t an extreme right-wing Catholic, but he is opposed to the morning-after pill and abortion, which is illegal in Mexico.
He also said that like President Vicente Fox, Calderon shows religious reverence.
Calderon, 43, is a Harvard-trained economist who resigned as Mexico’s energy minister to campaign.
He served as vice president of Centrist Democrat International, an elite organization that promotes Christian democracy.
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