 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Church Calls for Calm in Mexico Vote Crisis
 Greg Brosnan - Reuters
| | A supporter of Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) protests during a demonstration in front of Mexican Televisa network in Mexico City July 21, 2006. The supporters were protesting against Calderon's July 2 election victory, which they say was riddled with fraud. The words on the paper placed over the supporter's mouth reads, 'Tell the truth.' (Reuters/Henry Romero) |
Mexico's Roman Catholic Church pleaded for calm this week as bickering between the left and right neared the boiling point in a country plunged into political limbo by a contested presidential election.
Conservative Felipe Calderon won the July 2 vote by a tiny margin, but leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has mounted a legal battle against the result, backed by massive street protests and threats of civil disobedience by his supporters.
With no sign of a final ruling from Mexico's electoral court before September, what has so far been a war of words is threatening to escalate into violence.
Vandals this week ripped up a poster exhibition along Mexico's main avenue by leftist artists charging vote fraud and supporters of Lopez Obrador pounded on Calderon's car as he was leaving a meeting, swearing and screaming abuse at him.
"We need to strengthen the climate of peace in our country, because when this is destroyed it causes enormous suffering to everyone," four of the predominantly Catholic country's top bishops said in full-page insert placed in newspapers.
It was also signed by Archbishop Norberto Rivera, the country's main churchman. The church called for a week of prayer for "reconciliation, understanding and peace" beginning on July 31.
'PROMOTE PEACE'
Calderon echoed the bishops' plea. "We must do everything we can to promote peace, starting by avoiding provocation and violence," he said in a speech to construction industry leaders.
He urged supporters to hang white ribbons and flags from cars and houses -- a shift for his campaign, which has so far steered clear of defending his win in the streets.
Lopez Obrador promises to lift millions out of poverty, but richer Mexicans tended to support Calderon, of President Vicente Fox's ruling party, and fear the leftist would inflame class tensions and run up debts.
The country is the latest ideological battleground in Latin America, which has swung to the left in recent years. And passions are running higher every day as Calderon appears set to buck the trend.
Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, says a vote-for-vote recount is the best way to preserve peace and stability.
"Transparency is not much to ask for. We've done studies and all it take for a recount is six days, which would give us six years of political, economical and financial stability," he told a radio station.
Lopez Obrador brought some 20 boxes of documents to the W Radio studio which he said contained copies of around 30,000 vote tally sheets, of a total of 130,500 from polling day, which had arithmetical errors on them.
The International Monetary Fund said Mexico's economic fundamentals remain sound and it hopes the political dispute will not drag on.
"What we have said on Mexico is that it has robust fundamentals. We, like others, are hoping that this process will come to a closure soon. Our expectations are that the fundamentals are and remain robust," said IMF director of communications Masood Ahmed.
With 41 million votes cast, official results gave Calderon a lead of around 240,000, but Lopez Obrador has warned of unrest if all the ballots are not counted again. Calderon's team says that would be illegal and insists he won fairly.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Noel Randewich) |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us