Mexican lawmakers block Fox's speech

[chequita guevara]

Socialist revolution!

[The Mad Monk]

Since we appear to be low on Mexican posters at the moment, I'll just post this tidbit from another forum:

Basically, I can tell you: this guy just doesn't want to lose. So he's claiming the most surreal things. Among them:

* That million of citizens, election watchers, and EVEN THE MEMBERS OF HIS OWN PARTY -all of them who were present when the votes were counted one-by-one- were BOUGHT by the FILTHY GOVERNMENT.

* That there was a manipulation of the preliminary computer results so his rival was "always above him", thus giving "the wrong impression" he was going to win. Foot note: this preliminary computer results are not official results, and they are just a statistic/information tool.

* That there was a manipulation of the official results so HE was ALWAYS above his rival only to "turn it around in the last few million votes", thus "playing with his feelings." Foot note: this happened because his party insisted on opening every ballot and recounting the votes from the states where he lost miserably. Thus, this votes were counted at the end of the whole thing, thus the "turning it around in the last minute".

* He presented a video in national TV were he accused the citizens in a certain voting location of "stuffing" the box with votes. The citizens in question were interviewed and they said this was a lie. What happened was simply that they had three different boxes: one for senate, one for congress, one for president. When they opened a box they found out there were some votes in the wrong box. So they put them in the right box. Everybody saw what happened and agreed it was legal. The guy in the video, a humble country teacher, is suing the candidate for ruining his reputation in national television.

* His party (PRD) won many places in Congress and the Senate. Even when it was the SAME election, he claims this one is clean. He only says the president one was stolen (because that's the one where he lost).

* He claims the campaign was plagued with unfair propaganda, and among it was some (brace for this) SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES. Said subliminal messages were, for example, that a company that sells juices had the same shade of blue that the logo of the rival party. Another good one is where he claims that a company (I think it's the mexican version of Frito Lay, Sabritas) was subliminally telling people to vote for his rival, because his rival's slogan was that his hands were clean, and the ad tell people to wash their hands before eating. Of course, this has been done since forever, because junk-food and soda companies are forced by the law to include a health message in their ads, but nonetheless.

* He demands the votes to be counted again one-by-one because he says the citizens were bought, but he has said several times that EVEN if they ARE counted one by one, if he still loses, they cheated somehow.

So, insert a humongous amount of eye-rolling here.

Maritza
CRFH.net

http://forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?t=88767&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

[Winston]

He sounds like a worthy nutcase for Liberals to be supporting.

Meanwhile, Jane Fonda will allegedly be campaigning in favour of the newly-formed Feminist Party in the upcoming Swedish election. As if it's any of her business what goes on there. But maybe they don't have a similar option to vote for in Hanoi these days..

[The Mad Monk]

What are the chances this will end in civil war?

[SlowwHand]

The winning question.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
What are the chances this will end in civil war?

Nearly nil.

The military hasn't budged any significantly so far, and the support for Obrador doesn't seem to be armed.

It is likely that the resulting government, whatever party it is, will be extremely weak, and will fall in a matter of monthes, or only a few years. This will prompt new elections where all parties will do their best to prevent the others from frauding.

[SlowwHand]

We're talking hot-blooded Latinos, not French.

[Spiffor]

There was no civil war when Chavez came to power. There was no civil war when Morales came to power. There was no (extra) civil war when Uribe came to power. There was no civil war when Argentina completely fell into an economic and political crisis.

Latinos aren't what they used to be anymore

[SlowwHand]

And it is a shame, you're right. Where is Juan, seeking revenge against the gringo that trifled with Maria?

[Sikander]

They need to find those commanders who took care of business in 1968 and have them clean up the streets once again.

[chequita guevara]

Damn dirty Indians, asserting their rights over their own country.

[DinoDoc]

Crazy leftist politicians whining about the part of the election they lost. Damn subliminal messages! Floride probably played some part in his loss as well be making the Mexican public's bodily fluids impure.

[atawa]

That election ended 71 years of one-party rule

[GePap]

I don't support what Obrador is doing. While the election was probably not totally clean, it was still a three way race, and even iof Calderon won, he certainly would not have a clear majority to rule, allowing the PRD, whcih is even newer than PAN, to possibly either obstruct any policies they really disliked, or could work with PRI to get laws passed in spite of a continued PAN precidency. Obrador's general stance does not help democracy in Mexico.

[SlowwHand]

Mexico to get final ruling in presidential race

04:49 PM CDT on Monday, September 4, 2006
Associated Press


MEXICO CITY – Mexico at last will have a final decision Tuesday on its disputed July 2 presidential race, with the nation's top electoral court expected to declare ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon president-elect.

But the long-awaited ruling by the Federal Electoral Tribunal – which comes two months, three days, and tens of thousands of pages of legal challenges after voters cast their ballots – is unlikely to end potentially explosive uncertainty or close the growing political divide gripping the country.

Most court rulings so far have favored Calderon, who has a 240,000-vote advantage over leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"We are very calm, very sure," Juan Camilo Mourino, who heads Calderon's transition team, said on Monday. "Tomorrow, Felipe Calderon will be president-elect."

During an early morning session Tuesday, the seven magistrates of the Federal Electoral Tribunal will give their final count in the election and decide whether it was valid. While they have the power to annul the election, nothing indicates they plan to do so. The court's decision cannot be appealed.

Lopez Obrador, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor to run for president, already has said he won't accept a ruling against him and is moving forward with plans to establish a parallel government.

"The court is going to say 'The election was valid and Calderon is the president and that's the end of it,"' said political analyst Oscar Aguilar. "But that won't turn the page. That won't end anything."

For weeks, thousands of Lopez Obrador supporters have blocked Mexico City's stylish Reforma boulevard and set up a protest camp that has engulfed the capital's historic central plaza. They claim fraud, illicit government spending and dirty tricks swayed the election in favor of Calderon, a member of Fox's National Action Party.

Mexican presidents are limited by the constitution to a single six-year term, and Fox leaves office Dec. 1.

Protesters say they won't go home until Lopez Obrador is declared president – and a court ruling in Calderon's favor will just fuel their fight.

Gabriel Juarez, who was among those blocking Reforma, said Fox's administration has pressured the court to favor Calderon.

"Its rulings are lies," the 70-year-old retiree said.

Business leaders said Monday they plan to file lawsuits against Mexico City's government and Lopez Obrador's party, alleging they are responsible for $369 million in lost revenues due to the protests. Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party controls the capital's government and has refused to remove the protesters, supplying them with electricity and police protection.

Tensions spilled from the streets to the halls of Congress on Friday, when lawmakers from Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party seized the podium of the legislature and blocked Fox from delivering his final state-of-the-nation address.

Homero Aridjis, a novelist and newspaper columnist, said increasingly fiery rhetoric from Lopez Obrador and his supporters have some in Mexico worried about an armed rebellion.

An official count gave Calderon a lead of 244,000 votes – about 0.6 percent of all ballots cast. Last month, a partial recount overseen by the court's seven judges reduced Calderon's advantage by only 4,000 votes.

Calderon may appear at the court Tuesday so the judges can officially declare him a winner – a ceremony Democratic Revolution leaders have vowed to block. The party also has pledged to keep Calderon from being sworn in before Congress on Dec. 1.

Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said Monday that "there was no way" protesters could prohibit the presidential handover from taking place. He said the federal government had ways to ensure the president-elect takes office, but refused to elaborate.

"We will reserve them until the appropriate time, but there are ways to ensure that the letter of our laws and our constitution are followed and there will be a handover of power to the president-elect without a doubt," he said.

Another potentially explosive confrontation could come well before inauguration day. Shortly before midnight Sept. 15, Fox is expected to visit the capital's central plaza to yell "Viva Mexico!" and kick off the country's Independence Day celebrations. But the city center has been overrun by protesters supporting Lopez Obrador who may try to keep him from speaking.

"For Mexico, in historical terms, that could be like a political Waterloo," Aridjis said. "A lot of things will be decided. It could be the final political defeat for Fox, or the moment in which he regains a little credibility."

Lopez Obrador also plans to convene a national convention of his supporters on Sept. 16 to decide if he should declare himself head of a parallel government.

Fox, speaking to new military recruits on Monday, called for national unity.

"Mexico is a generous nation where there is room for all of us," he said.