Backroom Boss

摘要

It is an unlikely place for the world's larg-est artificial ice-rink. But this month for the second year in a row the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, is abuzz with skaters. The rink is the brainchild of Marcelo Ebrard, the city's mayor. Like several of his initiatives, it is practical and popular-the hallmarks of a politician who may be the best hope for Mexico's deeply divided left. Mr Ebrard took office two years ago as the protege of Andres Manuel Lopez Obra-dor, who, after a term as mayor, narrowly lost the 2006 presidential election to Felipe Calderon. Both men began their political careers in the formerly ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) before joining a left-wing breakaway, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). But in other ways they differ greatly.