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 Editorials | At Issue | September 2006 
Mexican Election Still Causing Conflict
 Lisa J. Adams - Associated Press
| | Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador protest against Mexico's President Vicente Fox, during Independence Day celebrations at Mexico City's Zocalo Plaza, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006. (AP/Marco Ugarte) |
President Vicente Fox celebrated Independence Day at the traditional military parade Saturday, while supporters of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador massed at an outdoor gathering expected to acclaim him leader of a "parallel government."
Fox reviewed thousands of military personnel from a vehicle that rolled through the capital's enormous Zocalo square one day after Lopez Obrador's activists agreed to permanently remove squatter camps that have snarled traffic in the capital's center for nearly seven weeks.
Small groups pushed up against barricades holding signs reading "Fox, crook" and "Vote by vote," a reference to their failed demand for a full recount of the July 2 presidential election that Lopez Obrador lost by less than 0.6 percent — a loss he attributed to fraud.
Others in the crowd cheered Fox and the new president-elect, Felipe Calderon of Fox's conservative National Action Party.
A military band played loudly over the conflicting groups and members of the president's security guard stood by to prevent violence. No major incidents were reported.
On Friday night, as holiday celebrations kicked off, Fox stayed away from the Zocalo, where Mexico's president traditionally issues "el grito," or cry of independence. He went to another city to avoid any confrontation with Lopez Obrador loyalists who announced they would hold their own party on the square.
Lopez Obrador claims the election was tainted by fraud and refuses to accept Calderon's victory, which was certified this month by the country's highest electoral court. He accused Fox of illegally spending government money to help Calderon win, a charge Fox vehemently denied.
Just minutes after the last of the military units marched from the Zocalo, Lopez Obrador's supporters moved back in, carrying large yellow flags of his leftist Democratic Revolution Party and setting up temporary meeting places for their "National Democratic Convention."
Shouts of "Obrador! Obrador!" were interspersed with organ-grinder music and the loud squawk of plastic horns blown to celebrate Independence Day.
After a series of daylong meetings by various state delegations, convention members were expected to vote by a show of hands to declare Lopez Obrador as Mexico's "legitimate" president and formally refuse to accept Calderon's administration. Calderon is scheduled to take office Dec. 1.
Lopez Obrador said he hoped to mass as many as 1 million people for the event. However, the Zocalo can accommodate fewer than 200,000 people, according to calculations by several local news media and an architects association.
"It's going to be a historic event for Mexico," said Mario Balbino, a 39-year-old electrical technician from the State of Mexico, adjacent to the capital, who planned to attend the convention. "We will make decisions so that there is a change in this country."
Actress and convention organizer Jesusa Rodriguez, performing in the Zocalo on Friday night, said Mexicans of every social class, color and creed — "all Mexicans who want to change the system, who are tired of corruption and impunity" — were welcome at the convention.
Lilia Hernandez, a 40-year-old accountant from Mexico City, said she supported the convention because "I think Lopez Obrador has some real proposals aimed at helping the poor," who make up nearly half of Mexico's population of 107 million.
Lopez Obrador told followers in the Zocalo on Friday that he was "not giving up or giving in," and he vowed to follow the convention with a nationwide tour. |
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