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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Candidate Urges Fans to Act Out, Peacefully
 S. Lynne Walker - Copley News
| | Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Mexico City yesterday in support of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) |
Mexico City – Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador stepped up the pressure yesterday for a recount in Mexico's presidential election, using a massive rally to urge his supporters to join him in a campaign of civil resistance.
Although López Obrador stopped short of outlining the specifics of his campaign to the crowd of more than 400,000 people, his speech was noticeably absent of past warnings he has issued to his followers, when he told them not to block highways or occupy government buildings.
He said a citizens committee will decide this week what actions will be taken and under what circumstances. He called for another march July 30.
“To defend democracy, we are going to begin a peaceful civil resistance,” López Obrador told his cheering supporters.
The rally in the Zocalo, the capital's historic main plaza, was critical to his effort to force a vote-by-vote recount in an election he says was rife with fraud. It drew almost twice as many people as his July 8 rally, signaling that López Obrador's movement is picking up momentum.
Mexicans traveled from almost every state to see the leader of the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, who has taken on President Vicente Fox's government and is fighting for what he sees as his rightful place in the presidency. Some people walked for days along the nation's highways, while others climbed aboard antiquated buses to make the grueling trips to Mexico City.
They stood in the blistering sun for hours waiting for the short-statured man with wavy gray hair to walk into their midst.
When López Obrador spoke, they drowned out his words with shouts of, “Presidente! Presidente! Presidente!”
“I am not alone,” López Obrador said as he looked down on the wall of humanity in the plaza. “We are millions of Mexicans who are prepared to push for our rights. That is a powerful force.”
The growing support for López Obrador's demand for a recount of the 41 million votes in the election has not been lost on his political opponents. Conservative Felipe Calderón, the apparent winner of the July 2 election, last week canceled plans for a victory tour of the country. Calderón continues to call himself Mexico's president-elect, angering not only López Obrador's followers but people who supported other candidates.
Although official returns showed Calderón of the National Action Party, or PAN, with 243,000 more votes that López Obrador, he cannot be declared president-elect until the Federal Electoral Tribunal, or TRIFE, rules on challenges to the election. The deadline for the TRIFE's decision is Sept. 6.
“Calderón says he won. Well, if he won, he should demonstrate it with a recount,” said Elvira Chavez, who traveled to the rally from her town of Tecpan de Galeana in the mountains of Guerrero state. “If he won, we'll step aside and let him govern. But first, he's got to prove it.”
Not all Mexicans agree with López Obrador's claim that the election was improperly conducted. A poll published Saturday in the Mexico City newspaper Reforma reported that 60 percent of those questioned said they did not believe a recount was needed.
López Obrador said Mexico's future rests on the TRIFE's decision.
“What is at stake is the democracy and the political stability of the country,” he said.
As López Obrador hardens his rhetoric, there is growing concern both in Mexico and in other countries about the possibility of political violence.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City issued a notice Friday advising citizens visiting Mexico to “avoid any large crowds during active demonstrations. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.”
López Obrador's strategy is to create nervousness without triggering widespread problems, said George Grayson, a Mexico scholar at the College of William & Mary.
“You put the government on edge, but you also try to put the international markets on edge,” Grayson said. “You try to squeeze the elite.”
López Obrador yesterday carefully avoided calling for disruptive protests. In the past, he has shown himself to be a street fighter, leading mass demonstrations during the 1990s to block oil wells that were polluting farmland in his petroleum-rich home state.
“He uses words that are ambiguous,” Grayson said. “They are open to various interpretations. To his good-willed followers and NGOs, he's Gandhi. To his firebrands, he's Che Guevara.”
If the protests shift from peaceful gatherings to destructive demonstrations, López Obrador runs the risk of alienating a large segment of the Mexican public, political analyst Federico Estevez said.
“If his supporters radicalize, they will inspire a lot of wrath against them. If they're out there with sticks and stones and they're trashing windows, people aren't going to like that. He can lose it all,” Estevez said. “People will think they were right to reject him. They'll think, 'There but for the grace of God went the country.' ”
Already, some people are questioning his tactics.
“Marches and marches and marches and marches,” said José de Jesús Villela, an electrical engineer who works in General Motors' quality control department, as he wended his way through throngs of people in downtown Mexico City.
Villela voted for López Obrador, but he said he won't participate in the demonstrations.
“Do you think it matters to the mega-rich in this country? People have been marching for 30 years, and nothing has changed.”
Guillermo Ramírez, a drama professor at Mexico's National Autonomous University who shouted his approval during the rally, predicted López Obrador's movement will continue to draw new supporters.
“We are really bothered that we cannot decide who governs us. We do not want people to exploit us and take away our rights,” Ramírez said. “This is an important moment for Mexico.” |
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