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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Mexico Candidate Demands Full Recount
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
| | Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), shout slogans during a march to protest against the result of the July 2 elections, in Mexico City July 16, 2006. (Henry Romero/Reuters) |
Claiming fraud robbed him of the presidency, leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led hundreds of thousands of marchers through Mexico's capital Sunday, demanding a full recount in the disputed election apparently won by his conservative opponent.
The Roman Catholic Church canceled Mass at the downtown cathedral as protesters overwhelmed the massive central plaza and spilled for blocks down nearby streets. Bands played, firecrackers boomed and the leftist party's yellow banners waved in the breeze.
Police officials from the pro-Lopez Obrador city government said many as 900,000 people took part. On the ground, the crowd appeared to be much smaller, though still vast.
Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, is demanding a full recount of the July 2 election — vote by vote, rather than relying on polling-place reports from election night, as is usual.
"To defend democracy, we are going to be begin peaceful civil resistance," a stern-faced Lopez Obrador told cheering supporters.
In official returns, Felipe Calderon of President Vicente Fox's conservative National Action Party led by about 244,000 votes — just 0.6 percentage point — though by law, he cannot be declared president-elect until an electoral court deals with challenges to the election.
Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party has appealed to overturn the official count, alleging illicit government and corporate help for Calderon, ballot stuffing and other irregularities.
National Action has also filed its own challenges, seeking to stretch Calderon's tiny vote advantage. Calderon say there is no legal basis for a complete recount. He is building a transition team and planning a nationwide victory tour.
A carnival atmosphere prevailed Sunday, with grandmothers dancing to the beat of hand-held drums, teenagers tossing firecrackers and a naked bicyclist with anti-fraud messages painted on his body weaving through the crowd.
Chants of "Hold on, Lopez Obrador, the people are rising up!" echoed from the crowd. Dogs wore yellow and black scarfs representing the leftist party.
Lopez Obrador supporters compared the vote to the fraud-stained 1988 election lost by leftist candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas and said they were ready for a long struggle.
"We could be here six more years," said Xochitl Luna, a 43-year-old unemployed secretary, referring to Mexico's presidential term.
"In 1988 we were ready to take up sticks and stones," she said. "Today we are prepared to fight with ideas."
Some marchers called for boycotts of American products, claiming U.S. multinationals illegally helped financed the ruling party candidate's campaign.
Fox ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's 71-year stranglehold on the presidency in the 2000 election and top Lopez Obrador adviser Ricardo Monreal said the July 2 election means that Mexico's fledging democracy is already faltering.
"If another abuse, another (electoral) theft is confirmed," he said, "Mexico will never have clean elections again."
Despite calls for peaceful demonstrations, Lopez Obrador adviser Manuel Camacho said the country might be ungovernable if the Federal Electoral Tribunal — which has until August 31 to review appeals alleging fraud — doesn't order a total recount. Lopez Obrador has promised to keep convening massive marches until a vote-by-vote tally becomes a reality.
"We will go to many more protests. We will never tire," said housewife Judith Lopez, who took a six-hour bus ride from the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz to march.
Support for the former mayor has reached cult-like proportions in the capital, with devoted followers lighting votive candles outside his campaign headquarters to keep his presidency hopes alive.
"He is the most marvelous man in the world," said Eugenia Leal, a 70-year-old retired school teacher who collects a pension thanks to a city program instituted by Lopez Obrador. "I'm willing to follow him from here to the death, or wherever he orders."
The dispute threatens to further divide Mexico along geographic and class lines. Lopez Obrador won in the mainly poor southern states, while Calderon swept most of the more-affluent north and northwest.
Lopez Obrador may never recognize Calderon as a legitimate president, setting up six years of sparring and protests that could threaten Mexico's political and economic stability. The stock market and currency have swung widely in recent weeks amid the electoral uncertainty. |
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