Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

ELECTIONS-MEXICO: Leftwing Protesters Prepared for the Long Haul

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Aug 16 2006 (IPS) - “Democracy under construction: We apologise for the inconvenience.” Placards bearing this message dotted the crowd of some 8,000 people who Tuesday marked the 17th straight day of sit-ins on one of the capital’s main thoroughfares and central public squares, where they have vowed to stay until leftwing candidate Andrés López Obrador is declared president.

“López Obrador won the (Jul. 2 presidential) election – clean and simple,” Pedro Arredondo, 73, told IPS. Since Jul. 30, the ex-bricklayer has been living in one of the many tents pitched on the asphalt of Reforma Avenue, part of which has been transformed into a massive tent city.

Near Arredondo, children kicked around a football while demonstrators sat at tables watching television or playing dominos and cards. Some lined up for food, others chatted animatedly under large plastic sheets, brightened by lights provided by Mexico City’s mayor’s office, which López Obrador occupied until stepping down in July 2005 to campaign for president.

“We’re not budging until our candidate is declared president – that’s the only way to overcome the fraud that handed the victory to the rightwing candidate,” said the elderly Arredondo, who added that there is no doubt in his mind that “the powerful and the business leaders want to steal the election.”

According to the official tally, conservative candidate Felipe Calderón of the governing National Action Party (PAN) beat López Obrador of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) by a razor-slim 0.58 percent margin, out of 42 million votes.

The PRD cried fraud, insisting that its candidate was the real winner, and filed complaints with the Federal Electoral Tribunal, demanding a total recount of the votes.

The seven-judge court instead ordered a partial recount, in just nine percent of the polling stations, and has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections. The decision will not be subject to appeal.

As they were throughout the election campaign, voters, politicians and analysts continue to be deeply divided. Some are adamant that the election process was skewed and tainted with fraud. Others, including some international observers, insist that the process was free of major problems, and that the proper thing now is to wait for the election authorities to hand down their final verdict.

Opinions run strong, both in the streets and in the media. Some people are frustrated with the PRD’s protests and the ensuing economic and traffic problems, but others believe the party’s actions are fully justified.

The conflict has already sparked at least one violent incident. On Monday, a group of López Obrador supporters, among them several PRD legislators, tried to set up tents blocking the entrance to the Congress building in Mexico City. Police armed with clubs forcibly removed them, injuring some protesters, but not seriously.

“They’re all on Calderón’s side – the judges, the government and the rich; they all want him to be the new president. But there is no way we are going to let that happen,” said Florencia Salinas in an interview with IPS. The young student from the southern state of Chiapas, along with her boyfriend and five friends, have joined the Reforma Avenue encampment.

The protesters are acting on a strategy set by López Obrador himself. Every weekend since Jul. 8, he has called on his followers to gather in the Zócalo, the main public square in the city’s historic district, to update them on future actions.

Placards reading “No pasarás” (You’re not going to get in) next to a photo of Calderón adorn the tents and other parts of the encampment. Other signs read: “No to electoral fraud: López Obrador – president”, “They will not take away our joy, hope, dignity – or power”, “Vote by vote, precinct by precinct”.

In rejecting the PRD’s demands for a vote-by-vote recount, the Electoral Tribunal argued that the PRD and the Coalition for the Good of All, which also encompasses the small Labour and Convergence parties, did not submit complaints about every electoral district or every voting station.

“This is sufficient grounds to reject the request for a general recount for all the voting stations (130,477),” it added. Earlier this month the judges found evidence of possible irregularities in just 11,500 polling stations, for which it ordered a recount. The PRD had filed complaints regarding 50,000 stations.

The new tally has so far narrowed Calderón’s lead over López Obrador to a mere 0.017 percent. Observers have said that the most important aspect of the exercise for the judges was to get a sense of how clean the elections were, information they will consider in their final decision.

The PRD claims that the recount has confirmed that the election was fraught with irregularities. The PAN counters that it has proved only that there were human math errors, and that the election was generally above board.

The final outcome is still unclear. But one certainty is that the social and political movement behind López Obrador has gained enough momentum before, during and after the elections to survive for years, regardless of who is named president, historian and political analyst Lorenzo Meyer told IPS.

Most of Calderón’s votes came from northern regions where people tend to be better educated and have higher incomes.

López Obrador’s voter base, by contrast, was primarily Mexico City, and southern Mexico, where the country’s poorest regions are found.

The leftist candidate announced that he will not consider the elections legitimate if Calderón is declared President Vicente Fox’s successor, and that he will continue to call for “peaceful civil disobedience,” for years if necessary.

López Obrador has called for rallies on Sept. 15, Mexico’s date of independence from Spain, traditionally celebrated in Zócalo square, and Sept. 16, to coincide with the annual military parade in the same square.

“We believe in the PRD because it is right. How could López Obrador have lost when we saw that he was supported everywhere, and when millions are joining him in all the protests?” asked Arredondo. “The support he is getting now is all the proof we need that he won,” he concluded.