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 Editorials | Opinions | November 2006 
Loser of Mexican Vote Puts Democracy in Peril
 Sun-Times News Group
| | Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico's leftist opposition leader, speaks as he is sworn in as 'legitimate president' at Mexico City's Zocalo square November 20, 2006. (Tomas Bravo/Reuters) |
Like Napoleon crowning himself emperor of France, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stood in the Zocalo, the main square in Mexico City, and had the green, red and white presidential banner placed across his chest while declaring himself the "moral" president of Mexico. This was on Monday, the anniversary of the country's 1910 revolution. By claiming himself president, Lopez Obrador undermined the very democracy and popular sovereignty he purports to embrace.
Last summer, the leftist Lopez Obrador lost the presidential race to Felipe Calderon, but he refuses to accept the election results and so had a mock swearing in of himself as Mexican leader. Indeed, he has been making life as miserable as he can for the conservative president-elect, Calderon, who is to be sworn in to office Dec. 1. As NPR's Mexico reporter noted, Calderon's honeymoon with the electorate is over before it even started.
Lopez Obrador has unsuccessfully gone to court to overturn the vote count, claiming there was election fraud; he has staged demonstrations in Mexico City; he has made himself a vocal nuisance and has even appointed a shadow Cabinet. Worse, he has declared that he will prevent Calderon's inauguration and will continue street protests for as long as Calderon is in office. This could be considered a farce, if not for the strong support Lopez Obrador has from a large percentage of the Mexican population, particularly in the south, where Obrador Lopez's supporters are inciting radical groups, such as in the city of Oaxaca, where demonstrators are attempting to push an unpopular state governor from office. The way to unseat an unsavory governor is through votes, not force.
This kind of populism gone awry is worrisome for the United States. Democracy in Mexico is fragile and volatile, and any attempt to unseat a democratically elected president could lead to increased chaos and flight from the country - right across our border, despite the fence.
However, as the Economist notes, "at first glance it would be easy to dismiss Mr. Lopez Obrador's actions as the inconsequential tantrums of a sore loser who was never able to substantiate his charge of election fraud." Calderon did win the election by a slim margin, and most Mexicans do believe there was fraud.
There is support for Lopez Obrador because there is still so much poverty in Mexico, despite oil wealth and the North American Free Trade Agreement. These are issues Calderon must immediately address: He must find ways to create jobs, reduce poverty, reform education and impose tax reform. Or else he will fuel Lopez Obrador's dissension and undermine any economic progress Mexico has made. |
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