Mexican Power Transfer may Tremble (Obrador supporters to impede inauguration of Calderon)

[seafan]

Mexican Power Transfer may Tremble

Mexico, Nov 16 (Prensa Latina)

Leaders of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) warned on Thursday that they will act inside and outside Congress to impede the inauguration of president-elect Felipe Calderon.

Immediately after the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation validated the elections and declared Calderon president in Sep 5, that political party announced they would not permit the imposition of a head of state they consider illegitimate.

snip

Supporters of opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will take to the streets to peacefully protest and express their ideas.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Three cheers for the people of Mexico!

I hope they get the man they voted for and don't end up with the misery we've been facing since 2000.

[SouthernBelle82]

4. Same here!

I'm sure they will or at least they'll fight harder than here.

[slackmaster]

9. I'd rather see them get their shit together for the next election

Implement better security and controls so the result doesn't end up in doubt.

[Bridget Burke]

12. The ones in charge get to "implement better security"...

Not the ones who probably had the Presidency stolen from them.

[slackmaster]

15. I don't buy the line that the election was stolen

There isn't enough evidence to prove it, and the process dictated by the Mexican constitution and laws determined that it was not.

I think the bottom line is we don't really have enough information on which to base a definitive statement one way or the other.

[gorbal]

16. YOU don't have enough evidence

Other people might. What I have read at Narco News so far is enough to convince me.

[slackmaster]

17. Narco News is far from an unbiased source

I've probably read everything you have about the whole sordid mess.

It's clear that there were irregularities, ballot box stuffing, ballot box ditching, etc. But it is not at all clear what impact that had on the outcome.

Too much information has been lost to determine what should have been the actual result.

There isn't any point in you trying to convince me to change my mind, if all you have is Narco News.

[Bridget Burke]

19. But why should the winners--the ones still in power--change the system?

Confusion, irregularities, etc., left them on top.

Here's another account of the election. http://texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2269

[slackmaster]

21. That doesn't prove anything

Basing the conclusion of election theft on the shift of the count from left to right as the count progresses assumes uniform distribution of Mexican political views east to west, south to north, which we know not to be the case. Mexican national vote counts always take a left-to-right trajectory.

[Bridget Burke]

22. "Mexican national vote counts always take a left-to-right trajectory"

Interesting.

Cite?

[slackmaster]

24. I'm citing my own memory of coverage of the 1994 and 2000 elections

Early in the count, it looked like the left was pulling ahead only to be disappointed by the final official result. The reason is very simple:

The southern, eastern parts of the country, which are in the Central time zone, are where the left is most popular. As you move through the Mountain and Pacific time zones, you go (obviously) west and north. The highly populous, industrialized BC Norte province, which includes the city of Tijuana (PAN stronghold BTW), gets its votes counted last. So there is always a surge to the right, conservative candidate as the vote progresses.

[slackmaster]

8. Less than 1/3 of the people voted for AMLO at best

Not much of a mandate even if he really did get the most votes.

[High Plains]

23. And less than one-third voted for Calderon at best.

[RethugAssKicker]

2. This sounds like it will eventually lead to Civil War....

[HappyWeasel]

3. Maybe it will...it will just be like Robocop where they were having a Mexican Civil War.

[Peace Patriot]

5. The only war in Mexico is the fascists' war against the Mexican people.

The millions protesting Calderon's fraudulent election, and the millions in Oaxaca who have been protesting the fraudulent governor's election in '04--and the murders, tortures, kidnappings, rapes and brutality against the teachers' strike that have ensued--have been entirely peaceful and orderly (with only one minor exception--the students' defense of the autonomous Univ. of Bentio Juarez last week, when Fox/Calderson's federal army tried to invade what is, by law, inviolable space--and, even then, they only threw a few rocks and molotov cocktails against heavily armed Darth Vader troops). For FIVE MONTHS, the Oxacans have gone about PEACEFULLY creating an alternative state government--under ancient indigenous rules provided for in Mexico's Constitution--in response to Ruiz's murders and other crimes. And in the enormous demonstrations in Mexico City against the fraudulent presidential election, the protesters proceeded entirely peacefully, and went out of their way to minimize provocations.

Peaceful protest is not civil war. You can only have a war if both sides play war. And that is not the case in Mexico, and there is no reason to believe that that will change.

Would you have warned that Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement of the 1960s "will eventually lead to Civil War"? Some people did. But the peaceful protest against injustice is a one-sided war, with the violent denial of justice always the losing side.

No one is at war with the poor of Mexico City, or the indigenous of Oaxaca, except a cruel and unjust government. And the poor of Mexico City, and the indigenous of Oaxaca, are at war with no one. They are merely asking for justice, and have done so--and will continue to do so--in a dignified and orderly way.

[stepnw1f]

6. The War Was Brought to the People By the Elite

so now the people fight back.... gee, whodda thunk?

[Peace Patriot]

7. But they are NOT fighting back--if by "fighting" you mean physically

harming others--and that is my point. It is entirely slander on the part of our corporate news monopolies to portray ANY of these protests--in Mexico City and in Oaxaca--as "violent clashes" and so on. All the violence is one-way--and it has been brutal in Oaxaca. And STILL people adhere to democratic organization and processes, and peaceful resistance. Their restraint is remarkable, especially in Oaxaca, where the provocations have been extremely grave (people killed and so on). APPO (the peoples' council) banned firearms in Oaxaca. With killers loose (Ruiz's paramilitary hit squads), some people carry knives or machetes for self-defense. But there have been zero incidents of protester harm to anyone. Conditions are different in Mexico City, which has a legitimate city government, whose police force has protected protesters from harm (and I haven't read of any attempts there to hurt protesters). In Oaxaca, however, the fascist state government is out of control, and the Fox/Calderon federal army has invaded the state on the side of Ruiz's lawlessness. Whether they will bring any of Ruiz's hitmen to justice is questionable. And still there is no retaliation, no violence, and nothing but peacefulness on the peoples' side of things. It is extraordinary, and speaks well of the elders who are in charge in Oaxaca. And I think it will mean their ultimate victory, and the victory of democracy in Mexico. By the numbers, Mexico's vast poor population should have the majority voice in Mexico's policies, which have long favored the rich and corporate exploitation, as they have here. As Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia, has said: "The time of the people has come." It's not a matter of force or violence. It is a matter of realizing your power, and BEING your power, collectively, as a community and as a people. That is what is taking place in Mexico, and throughout Latin America. And it is not a war. It is...like a butterfly rising.

[Bridget Burke]

13. Many people here don't realize that the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920

Was more of a Civil War than a Revolution. Over a million Mexicans died & many more fled North.

Those hoping glibly for a Mexican Civil War should hope instead that a better way can be found. It would be helpful if the US government were not firmly on the side of the powerful.

[lakeguy]

20. i don't think anyone here wants 1 million+ dead people,

they just want the truth to prevail.

[stepnw1f]

18. I Did Not Mean "fighting" in That Sense of the Word (nt)

[RethugAssKicker]

14. I am aware of that... however, if the facist govt

decides to crackdown violently, they have no choice but to pick up arms!

[lonestarnot]

10. Keep fighting people!

[Vidar]

11. Viva Obrador.

[Mudoria]

25. Viva Calederon