Mexico's Election: Won't THIS Be Fun

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Re: Ross on the elections

Postby isachar » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:08 pm

DE, thanks for posting that excellent article.<br><br>The PAN has learned well from the PRI, and more recently, from the U.S. Repukicans. In a tight election it is only necessary to steal the margin of votes necessary to tip the election. This can be done either massively, or incrementally.<br><br>The disenfranchisement of those campesinos living in the U.S. along with the shaving of a dozen or a hundred votes here and there among the many thousands of precincts was more than sufficient to turn this 'election' to the PAN and to deny Obrador his victory, let alone the media manipulation and other tactics employed.<br><br>It will be interesting to see how this 'pans' out over the next week or so. It appears I'll have a front row seat from Oaxaca in another couple weeks should my current travel plans proceed. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Ross on the elections

Postby greencrow0 » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:32 pm

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/noticias.html">www.eluniversal.com.mx/noticias.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Look at the crowd that gathered in Mecxico City today to denounce the fraudulent 'election'.<br><br>BBC said there were 100,000. However, looks like more than that to me...but you'll never see an aerial view like this in the BBC or any of the criminally co-opted neoCon Zionist Corporatist mainstream 'media' propaganda machines.<br><br>GC <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=greencrow0>greencrow0</A> at: 7/8/06 8:33 pm<br></i>
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Re: Ross on the elections

Postby Dreams End » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:47 pm

That's the Zocalo (sp?). Holds more than 100,000 and it is packed.<br><br>I was in just such a protest after Cardenas was robbed the last time. Not nearly as big though. <p></p><i></i>
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Leftist to Seek Recount in Mexican Election

Postby sunny » Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:47 pm

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexelect8jul08,0,3265742.story">www.latimes.com/news/nati...5742.story</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>MEXICO CITY — Top aides to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called Friday for a recount of nearly half the votes cast in Sunday's presidential election and edged close to demanding that the entire vote be nullified.<br><br>The statements by the Lopez Obrador camp revealed a two-part strategy to deny a victory to conservative Felipe Calderon, who on Thursday was proclaimed the winner by a margin of little more than half a percentage point.<br><br>ADVERTISEMENT<br> By insisting on a recount of about 18 million of the 41 million votes cast, aides said, Lopez Obrador hopes to overcome Calderon's official 244,000-vote margin. The leftist has been insisting since Monday that there were widespread irregularities in the tally.<br><br>Simultaneously, Lopez Obrador's aides allege that President Vicente Fox improperly influenced the vote — an accusation that could provide grounds for asking Mexico's electoral tribunal to nullify the election and order a new one.<br><br>Calderon is with Fox's National Action Party, and Lopez Obrador's allies have been arguing that the president's many TV and radio commercials touting his administration's successes were a thinly veiled attempt to aid his party's candidate. Mexican law does not allow the incumbent to intervene in the election of a successor.<br><br>Fox "violated the principles of equity, impartiality and objectivity," said Ricardo Monreal, a top official with the Lopez Obrador campaign.<br><br>Calderon, for his part, said he would prevail in any legal battle. If his victory stands, he will take office Dec. 1.<br><br>In a news conference with foreign correspondents, Calderon said he had won a "clear victory" supported by "the will of millions of Mexicans." He pointed out that many ballot boxes were reopened and recounted Wednesday during the preparation of the final vote tally. Those recounts, he said, found only "minor variations" from the election night tally.<br><br>"There is no valid legal argument that will lead to" an annulment of the election, Calderon said.<br><br>Mexico's electoral tribunal has overturned the results of several gubernatorial and mayoral elections in recent years, ordering new votes. In those cases, the losing candidates made charges similar to those against Fox: that leaders used their influence over local media and control of government coffers to violate the principle of "equity" in the competition among the candidates.<br><br>But legal experts said it was unclear whether the tribunal had the legal authority to void a presidential election.<br><br>Beyond the legal issue, it was uncertain whether the panel, made up of highly respected jurists elected by Congress to 10-year terms, would be willing to risk the political and social conflict sure to follow the nullification of a presidential election.<br><br>"Whether they would dare to do this at the presidential level is a different question" than nullifying a state vote, said John M. Ackerman, a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. "But if Lopez Obrador decides to make such a case, they would have to take it seriously, because they have their own jurisprudence that requires them to do so."<br><br>Lorenzo Cordova, a specialist in electoral law and former member of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, said the judges "would have to find very grave circumstances" before they could annul the election. "It's an action of last resort," Cordova said.<br><br>Monreal, with Lopez Obrador's campaign, said asking for the ballot boxes from 50,000 precincts to be reopened would be the Democratic Revolution Party's chief request before the tribunal.<br><br>But, he said, the PRD lawyers would also target Fox, whose commercials inundated the airwaves here for months until a court barred them in April.<br><br>President Fox "is the person primarily responsible for creating this election of state," Monreal said, using a phrase synonymous here with election tampering. He stopped short, however, of explicitly saying that Lopez Obrador would ask to have the election nullified.<br><br>On Friday, PRD lawyers and activists across Mexico prepared to submit to the electoral tribunal paperwork challenging the count. The deadline to file is Sunday.<br><br>PRD officials say they have ample evidence of irregularities. In many instances, they said, vote totals at precincts in Calderon strongholds, such as the central state of Guanajuato, exceeded the number of ballots delivered to those precincts.<br><br>The election was monitored by hundreds of international observers, many of whom lauded the apparent orderliness of Sunday's vote. Some, however, did note irregularities during the official count of polling station reports that began Wednesday.<br><br>continued <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Leftist to Seek Recount in Mexican Election

Postby Mentalgongfu » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:02 am

<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0710/p08s02-comv.html">www.csmonitor.com/2006/0710/p08s02-comv.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>A disappointing but unsurprising editorial treatment from the Christian Science Monitor. <br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Winning is just the half of it in Mexico<br>The Monitor's View<br><br>The July 2 presidential election in Mexico isn't over yet, but one thing matters more than who won: Just how Felipe Calderón, the declared winner, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who's challenging the official results, finish out the election process.<br><br>The rest of Latin America, as well as the United States, have a strong stake in whether Mexico's fragile and still-emerging democracy can maintain the integrity of its voting system and in electoral disputes. The region's history of leaders both left and right trying to hijack elections to stay in power needs to become history. Mexico can help lead the way.<br><br>That means Mexicans must respect the authority of their two electoral bodies: the Federal Electoral Institute, which counts the votes and has a favorable reputation; and the Federal Electoral Tribunal, which declares the winner by Sept. 6 and hears legal challenges to the vote. The tribunal already has a solid track record of overturning local elections found fraudulent.<br><br>Both candidates have not been shining lights in this respect.<br><br>Given his apparent tortilla-thin victory, Mr. Calderón should not be so dismissive of Mr. López Obrador's right to a legal challenge. Nor should he triumph himself as president-elect until that title is granted. Winning by less than one percentage point should give anyone pause to wait for electoral certainty.<br><br>The greater disrespect and possible danger comes from López Obrador's postelection words and actions. He quickly accused the Federal Electoral Institute of "manipulating" the results, even though European Union observers saw no major irregularities. He suggests that he might take the final decision of the special elections court to the Supreme Court, even though that's legally dubious under the Constitution.<br><br>Most of all, he hopes large protests will persuade these two nonpolitical institutions to act on his behalf. At a giant rally in the capital on Saturday, he declared: "We have enough strength to validate our democracy using only peaceful demonstrations."<br><br>But can he ensure his followers will be peaceful? (A nationwide rally is planned July 16.) He also warned: "If there is no democracy, there can be no stability." In 1994, his followers seized oil wells in his state after he lost a race for governor.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>López Obrador walks a fine line with such statements. As leader of the leftist coalition, the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), he must act strongly to keep alive the hope of Mexico's poor that they have a stake in a democracy and their candidates can win. Yet he risks alienating many Mexicans from the PRD and his own possible presidential victory in 2012 if he destabilizes the country now by ultimately ignoring a possible victory for Calderón.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Calderón has wisely offered to include some opposition figures in his cabinet. He could go further by adopting some PRD policies. López Obrador must make clear that protests are not an implied threat of violence and that he will accept the official declaration.<br><br>Mexico faces weeks of political uncertainty. Its few democratic institutions are at risk. Let this time be a chance for both men to act as statesmen.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Leftist to Seek Recount in Mexican Election

Postby Gouda » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:45 am

Every last report I have read from the commercial media paints AMLO as the one threatening Mexico's "democracy." They call on him (warn him) to be mindful of his "political stock," which he should be saving up for the 2012 elections - when institutions and politics in Mexico will no doubt be much improved, especially after 6 more years of PAN/Madison Avenue. Hmm, maybe that was what Cardenas was thinking in '88? Stability of the political markets now for a fair shot in 1994, 2000 and 2006? Great advice! <br><br>Oh yes, and here's a Reuters photo of Calderon looking rather Presidential, wouldn't you say? I like comparing the images almost as much as the text. <br><br> <!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060707/060707_mexico_elec_vlg6p.standard.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Calderon, presidential. Obrador, loose cannon populist: <br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060708/060708_lopez_hmed_4p.rp420x400.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13759417/">www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13759417/</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 7/10/06 4:48 am<br></i>
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North American Union

Postby Pissed Off Cabbie » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:28 pm

From an American perspective, this is what it's all about:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://coverthistory.blogspot.com/2006/07/coming-north-american-union-i-know.html">coverthistory.blogspot.co...-know.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Obrador is anti-NAFTA. Our rulers would have done anything to keep him out of office, and would have had him assassinated if he had gotten into office. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: North American Union

Postby Gouda » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:15 pm

Despite the excellent fraud and propaganda practice they are getting with this one, I am not so sure that northern and european elites would not be sanguine about the prospect of an AMLO presidency should it come to that. Of course, they would prefer Calderon for many reasons of blunt expediency, but they would also have a nice hedge on their bets with AMLO. He is no radical - probably more akin to Prez Lula in Brazil who the neoliberal elite are quite pleased with: he has accommodated big capital while keeping the left pretty well tamed. Nice trick, but it won't last. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 7/10/06 12:18 pm<br></i>
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Re: North American Union

Postby Gouda » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:36 pm

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>But Mr López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution party (PRD) has refused to accept defeat. On Sunday night, he submitted an <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>800-page document </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->to the country’s Federal Electoral Tribunal, the highest electoral court, allegedly documenting proof of foul play.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> Nevermind the bollocks of the <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7c28ff94-129b-11db-aecf-0000779e2340.html">FT's heavily slanted reporting</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>***<br><br>Another excellent exchange between Al Giordano and Jules Siegel: <br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/7/11/17565/7701#3">narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/7/11/17565/7701#3</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: North American Union

Postby Gouda » Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:29 pm

Kudos to Mr. James K Galbraith, writing at the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>The Guardian Unlimited</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> network<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_k_galbraith/2006/07/the_mexican_standoff.html">commentisfree.guardian.co...ndoff.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Doing maths in Mexico</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>While Mexicans take to the streets over the presidential vote, democracy's fairweather friends are standing silent.<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The election was stolen. It's not in doubt. Colin Powell admits it. The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute both admit it. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana - a Republican - was emphatic: there had been "a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse"; he "had heard" of employers telling their workers how to vote; yet he had also seen the fire of the resisting young, "not prepared to be intimidated".<br><br> In Washington, Zbigniew Brzezinski has demanded that the results be set aside and a new vote taken, under the eye - no less - of the United Nations. In The New York Times, Steven Lee Myers decried "the use of government resources on behalf of loyal candidates and the state's control over the media" - factors, he said, were akin to practices in "Putin's Russia".</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>I wrote those words two years ago, for Salon. They referred, of course, to the election in the Ukraine, where the presidential candidate favoured by the powerful neighbouring state (Russia) had claimed a tainted victory in a tight race. The thunder from America, citadel of democracy, was overwhelming. Nothing mattered more than to see the vote annulled, a new election held. The subsequent installation of Viktor Yuschenko as President of Ukraine was widely celebrated as a great triumph for democracy...<br><br>But that, of course, was in another country...<br><br>Here's one difference between the two situations. In Ukraine, it was extremely hard to learn exactly what the evidence of fraudulence actually was. In Mexico, it is extremely easy...<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
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