Message from: ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR

[Joanne98]

Op-Ed Contributor
Recounting Our Way to Democracy

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/opinion/11lopezobrador.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

By ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR
Published: August 11, 2006
Mexico City

NOT since 1910, when another controversial election sparked a revolution, has Mexico been so fraught with political tension.

The largest demonstrations in our history are daily proof that millions of Mexicans want a full accounting of last month’s presidential election. My opponent, Felipe Calderón, currently holds a razor-thin lead of 243,000 votes out of 41 million cast, but Mexicans are still waiting for a president to be declared.

Unfortunately, the electoral tribunal responsible for ratifying the election results thwarted the wishes of many Mexicans and refused to approve a nationwide recount. Instead, their narrow ruling last Saturday allows for ballot boxes in only about 9 percent of polling places to be opened and reviewed.

This is simply insufficient for a national election where the margin was less than one percentage point — and where the tribunal itself acknowledged evidence of arithmetic mistakes and fraud, noting that there were errors at nearly 12,000 polling stations in 26 states.

It’s worth reviewing the history of this election. For months, voters were subjected to a campaign of fear. President Vicente Fox, who backed Mr. Calderón, told Mexicans to change the rider, but not the horse — a clear rebuke to the social policies to help the poor and disenfranchised that were at the heart of my campaign. Business groups spent millions of dollars in television and radio advertising that warned of an economic crisis were I to win.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/opinion/11lopezobrador.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Joanne98]

1. kick

[Joanne98]

2. Has anybody heard anything about the recount today?

I can't find anything on google news.

[Robbien]

14. If you would like a first hand report on what it is like on the ground

John Ross has written a long piece taking us through what it is like in Mexico City throughout the protests and the voting problems. He labels his piece "Class War Amid Mexico City's Gridlock". It describes what the city looks like and how it handles the middle/upper classes versus the lower/poor classes. He takes you through the tents and describes the different groups of people protesting and finally take you through how they are handling the news from the judging panel on the vote count process.

Sit down and get cozy, it is a long but fascinating read:
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732047.php

A very small taste of the whole article:

The encampments continue down Juarez Avenue, individual cubicles of plastic, structures fashioned from cardboard and scraps of wood fished out of the dumpsters under which to huddle when the deluge falls hard. It is the height of the rainy season in this mile-high megalopolis and on the third night of the encampments, hardball-sized hail pelted down from the heavens, flattening the tents under slabs of ice. Drains flooded out and the water rose to the campers' knees. It was that way in the damnificado camps too, reminisces one soggy AMLO supporter, Josue, a member of the still-militant Assembly of Neighborhoods whose peoples' superhero SuperBarrio is said to be lurking under one of the tents.

The encampments strung along the Paseo de Reforma, the ones that so annoy Calderon and the right-wingers (one inflamed PANista drove his monster SUV through 12 tents and injured three campers on Saturday night) are more sparsely populated. Protestors play soccer in the wide roadbed, do Tai Chi, and practice their steps for the big "Bailongo Against The Fraud" dance contest. Masked wrestlers tumble about an impromptu ring.

Together, the 47 encampments have constituted themselves as another city inside the belly of this urban beast, a corridor of resistance and a seam of solidarity sewn by a civil society that continues to be Mexico's most vital resource.

[Annces]

3. the counting ends tomorrow on Monday

We will see what happens.

I have a summary from Prensa Latina


Mex Election Dirtier than Expected

Mexico, Aug 12 (Prensa Latina) A day before recounting of the 11,839 voting ballots ends, irregularities still appear, blowing the whistle on a possible fraud in the presidential elections on July 2, denounced by Mexican coalition Por el Bien de Todos. After revision of the ballots ordered by the Electoral Court (TEPJF) started Wednesday, there are electoral packages that were opened, disappeared lists, lost ballots and uncounted votes.

Reports said misconduct and authoritarianism of some magistrates and intimidating attitudes of members of the Mexican Army watching over the elections were frequent. Coalition Por el Bien de Todos impugned to the Electoral Federal Institute on July 6 the electoral results, which had given PAN candidate Felipe Calderon an edge of 243,000 votes over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. New demands were presented in the state of Puebla, center of Mexico, and the evidence will be reviewed after recount of the ballots has concluded.

http://www.plenglish.com/NewsSection.asp?Section=ENG_Central&start=&end=&button=1&language=EN

[Joanne98]

5. Oh thank you for that link. I've been trying to find a good Mexico

news source.

[Peace Patriot]

4. An amazing man, Mr. Lopez-Obrador, and an amazing movement in

Mexico, where millions of people are shutting down Mexico City, and more have already shut down Oaxaca and created an alternative state government--in a related political movement--all over stolen elections, and issues of justice and economic fairness. This NYT op-ed is like hearing from Martin Luther King or Gandhi in the midst of an awesome revolution. Similar peaceful revolutions have occurred in Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina, resulting in the election of leftist (majorityist) governments, with leftist governments getting elected also in Chile, Brazil and Uruguay, and a strong leftist movement developing in Peru (and also in Nicaragua, where Sandinista Daniel Ortega may get elected president).

The times they are a-changin'--for sure. And the common theme of this HUGE, peaceful, leftist revolution was articulated by Lopez Obrador this way: "Our institutions cannot remain subject to the power of money, to those who think they own Mexico.....If we permit it we will be accepting a simulated democracy, a democracy of lies."

"A simulated democracy, a democracy of lies"--run by people who think they own your country. Sound familiar? It's the same in the U.S., as almost everywhere on earth where greed has inflicted unfairness. Its name is Corporate Rule. Many of these global corporate predators are U.S. based. They have used our infrastructure, our educational system, our tax dollars, our creative, loyal, productive work, and our government services and subsidies, and have further grabbed control of our politicians, our laws and our news media (and in the U.S., our military), to turn themselves into gigantic engines of greed and oppression that have preyed upon others and are now preying upon us as well. We have an obligation to curtail them, in the interests of world peace and justice, and in the interest of our own welfare and survival.

They have now seized direct control of our election system--during the 2002-2004 period, with the highly corrupt electronic voting systems, run on TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by Bushite corporations--SPECIFICALLY to prevent us from regulating them. The remedy now needs to go further. Some of these bad actor corporations and conglomerates need to be dismantled and their assets seized for the common good. They have no right to exist and to do what they do. They are artificial constructions whose rich beneficiaries have used our legal system to invest themselves with PERPETUAL existence, like the kings and nobles of old, with titles in perpetuity permitting the accumulation of vast, unjust wealth and power.

The highly NON-TRANSPARENT electronic voting system they installed in 2002-2004 is not the first of their control measures, but it is the worst, and it MUST be defeated and thrown out, if we are to gain any traction at all for reform of our political system. Without better representation of the interests of the majority in Washington DC and in state government, we cannot do ANYTHING to remedy the ills that have been inflicted upon others for some time, and are now being inflicted upon us: multiple tax breaks for the rich (to the point of insanity), a $10 TRILLION deficit to lard the super-rich and, in our case, to conduct heinously unjust and illegal war, the dismantling of our Constitution, government obliviousness to REAL national security and emergency services, scandalously inadequate health services, neglect of education--and, indeed, an outright assault on science and learning--the creation of MORE injured peoples and thus more potential "terrorists" in the world, secrecy and lack of accountability in all government doings, massive corruption, and lies, lies and more lies. A simulated democracy, a democracy of lies.

Join the protest this fall against the electronic voting systems. Bust the Machines--VOTE ABSENTEE! We need to FORCE reform, and we need to force it NOW. AB voting will NOT result in accurate vote counts in November--that is impossible--but if enough people vote AB (and many are--it's up to 50% in Los Angeles), it has the potential to bring this election theft system to its knees.

Viva la revolución!


---------------------------------

"Our institutions cannot remain subject to the power of money, to those who think they own Mexico.....If we permit it we will be accepting a simulated democracy, a democracy of lies." --Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

[Joanne98]

6. Very well said.

[leftchick]

15. Viva la revolución!

Excellent Post!

:)

[catbert836]

7. If only Gore or Kerry

had had Mr. Obrador's courage.

[petgoat]

10. Courage is scarce in the USA these days.

We've gotten fat, lazy, complacent, and stupid.

[EFerrari]

8. kick

[Poll_Blind]

9. This op-ed by Obrador is a seminal announcement, the beginning...

...of a possible turning point in Mexican government in a broader sense. With the strength of the protesters in the zocalo (over 2 million) the results of the partial recount on Monday will prove a touchstone for how other democracies in Central and South America will deal with the contention of fraudulent elections in the future.

PB

[mom cat]

11. Viva Obrador!

[Annces]

12. Triunfo Obrador!

[welshTerrier2]

13. "refused to approve a nationwide recount"

does this ever make sense? is it ever fair to deny a full recount in a close election? shouldn't the objective be ACCURACY? why would a court or a law seek, in any way whatsoever, to obstruct a process designed to accurately determine the will of the voters?

this idea of limited recounts is truly abhorrent ... whether it is proof positive of a hidden political agenda or not, it is clearly un-democratic ...

[Greyhound]

16. Any of this sounding familiar?

He pointed out that the Election Judicial Court of the Federation (TEPJF) must annul several thousand votes, as countless errors were detected again on the third day of the vote counting process, including 2,300 extra votes in favor of the official candidate, Felipe Calderon.

The PRD also denounced the discovery of an empty package, extra ballots and other signs of manipulation in several Mexican states, in addition to votes that were discounted to the candidate for the Por el Bien de Todos coalition, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Until Friday, the TEPJF had counted more than 33,000 ballots that were not backed by voters and more than 20,000 votes with inexistent ballots, a situation that shows the manipulation of the elections to benefit Calderon.

I guess the up side is that the differences between our peoples are shrinking?