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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Obrador Warns of Unrest, Fox Denies Fraud
 Kieran Murray - Reuters
| | Supporters of Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, wearing masks of Mexican president Vicente fox and his wife, Marta Sahagun participate in a massive march in demand of a ballot by ballot recount of last July 2 elections in Mexico City, Mexico on Sunday July 16, 2006. (AP/Alexandre Meneghini) |
President Vicente Fox rejected claims on Tuesday of fraud in Mexico's election to replace him but the leftist who claims he was robbed of victory warned of unrest if all the votes are not recounted.
Fox had stayed out of the growing dispute about the July 2 election, narrowly won by ruling party conservative candidate Felipe Calderon, but he finally weighed in on Tuesday during a visit to Spain.
"In Mexico, there is no electoral fraud. Never," Fox told a small group of demonstrators protesting the alleged vote-rigging.
He was ridiculed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-wing candidate who says election results that showed him losing by about 0.6 percentage points are bogus.
Lopez Obrador said the president was living in a world of his own, which he called "Foxilandia." Fox's election victory in 2000 ended seven decades of corrupt one-party rule in which elections were often rigged.
The July 2 presidential vote has split Mexico between left and right and Lopez Obrador has pulled hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets to back his demand for a full recount.
With 41 million votes cast, official results gave Calderon a winning margin of around 240,000. Lopez Obrador again warned on Tuesday of unrest if all the ballots are not counted again.
"If we want political, economic and social stability, the votes must be counted," he said in a television interview. "We will channel these protests peacefully as far as we can but there are millions of Mexicans offended by the fraud."
"The people are very upset and we are not talking about a minor issue. We are talking about an affront to democracy."
Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, has appealed to Mexico's electoral court to order a vote-by-vote recount across the country but Calderon's team says that would be illegal and insists he won fairly.
FORMAL DECLARATION
The court has to rule on legal challenges to the election by August 31 and formally declare the winner on Sept 6.
While Lopez Obrador's team is planning a campaign of civil resistance, Calderon is intent on looking like president-elect by meeting with trade unions and religious groups. He accuses Lopez Obrador of trying to blackmail Mexico with the street protests.
"I am not going to break, I am not going to fold," the Harvard-educated former energy minister said in a speech to trade union groups on Tuesday. "I believe in the force of law, in the force of the peaceful over the force of the violent."
As Calderon left the meeting, a small group of PRD supporters hurled insults at him and banged on his car.
Lopez Obrador later declined to criticize the protesters, saying, "I don't condemn it. I condemn electoral fraud."
An opinion poll released on Tuesday showed about 56 percent of Mexicans think the election was clean but 35 percent believe there was fraud.
Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City with a long history of leading protests, insisted he would not back down.
"When I defend a just cause, even if I am alone, I don't give up," he said.
(Additional reporting by Monica Medel) |
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