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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Leftist's Supporters Flood Mexico City
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
| | Supporters of Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rally in Mexico City, blocking major arteries in the heart of Mexico City and vowing to hold their ground until the electoral court orders a vote recount. (AFP/Fernando Castillo) |
Hanging protest banners from sculptures and pitching tents in the middle of Mexico City's historic Reforma boulevard, supporters of the country's leftist presidential candidate paralyzed the city's financial district Monday and said they won't leave until the top electoral court rules on their demands for a recount in the disputed race.
Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spent the night in a tent in the city's main Zocalo plaza, where thousands of his supporters joined his fight.
Others set up makeshift camps by the dozens along the tree-lined Reforma boulevard, braving chilly, intermittent rain throughout the night and blocking most traffic on one of the main arteries in this megalopolis of 20 million people.
The protest camps snarled already chaotic rush-hour traffic, slowing freeways to a crawl for miles and forcing millions of commuters to circle the downtown looking for a way to work.
Lopez Obrador on Sunday offered his apologies "for any inconvenience our movement may cause."
Police are unlikely to do anything to remove the camps because the city is governed by the candidate's leftist Democratic Revolution Party.
Elio Mendoza, 49, a government employee, camped out in a plastic tent without sleeping bags or even blankets. Jubilant, he said sleep was the last thing on his mind.
"Sleep? The people have been asleep for too long," Mendoza said. "Today, we're happy, because the people have awoken."
Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who promised to govern for the poor, asked more than 500,000 supporters who turned out for a protest rally Sunday to erect the 5-mile-long blockade. He is demanding a recount in the July 2 election, from which ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon emerged with an advantage of less than 0.6 percent, or about 240,000 votes.
Lopez Obrador claims fraud robbed him of the victory. The Federal Electoral Tribunal has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the election.
The protest was similar to one that Lopez Obrador called in 1994 after he lost the Tabasco governor's race, allegedly because of fraud. Those demonstrations, which lasted weeks, undermined the already weak administration of Roberto Madrazo, who finished a distant third in July's presidential race.
There have been fears that the protests could turn violent as Lopez Obrador's supporters grow frustrated with the process that will determine the race's winner in the coming weeks. Lopez Obrador has played on those fears, saying Sunday: "If democratic outlets are closed off, then all that's left is submission or violence."
Calderon, a conservative backed by big business, appeared before the electoral tribunal's seven judges on Sunday to argue that the election was clean and that a full recount was unnecessary and illegal.
"The question is whether we Mexicans are going to resolve our differences with pressure tactics and marches, or with reason and by the law," Calderon said in his statement to the court, which he released to the press.
He criticized the use of protests to try to sway the judges, saying, "We're in here to argue our case, not outside letting senselessness reign."
Impromptu soccer and baseball games sprung up among protesters along the boulevard.
"We hope that some day people will realize that we were right and we needed to do this," said 25-year-old dance student Tirso Vicente, one of thousands who spent the night.
The motley collection of tents and portable toilets contrasted sharply with the stock exchange, banks and other sleek, glass skyscrapers that line Reforma.
Lopez Obrador, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor last year to run for president, promised he would abide by the results of a recount, but again avoided saying what he would do if the tribunal refuses to order one.
He accused President Vicente Fox — who belongs to Calderon's National Action Party, and leaves office Dec. 1 — of fixing the race.
Lopez Obrador's attorneys argued in a court hearing on Saturday that there were mathematical errors, falsifications or other problems at 72,000 of the country's 130,000 polling places.
On Sunday, the leftist candidate told the rally that "we won the presidency ... it is fundamental that they recognize my victory."
His supporters agreed, with one protester driving a truck carrying several live hogs eating out of feed buckets painted to look like ballot boxes. On the vehicle hung a sign saying, "This election was a pigsty." |
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