Mexico’s Interior Minister Plans Presidential Run

Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel said Thursday that he planned to seek the presidential nomination of President Vicente Fox’s National Action Party.

Creel had been rumored to be considering running in the 2006 presidential race. He has been second or third in most polls, roughly tied with Roberto Madrazo, president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

“I don’t see anything that will stop me,” Creel told foreign reporters, referring to his effort to seek the nomination. He said he would make an official announcement once the party opened its primary race.

The front-runner, Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, outlined his campaign strategy Thursday, saying he wanted to fight poverty and improve oil and gas infrastructure.