by StarmanSkye » Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:34 pm
"This is what happens when you try to take democracy away from informed and committed citizens." -- GC<br><br>Indeed! This is a helluva inspiring development. I imagine the White House criminals are anxiously following these events and hope they are sweating bullets. Mainstream media for the most part seems to be diligently doing their best to bury, slant and/or distort the Mexican vote-protest demonstrations as an insignificant, trivial aberration -- but if they continue with huge numbers participating, this will become harder and harder to do.<br><br>It also seems as if the Mexican public is a lot more savvy in fully appreciating what the stakes here really are, and committed to organizing and acting to demand an end to the charade of 'self-rule' government in which the status quo and powerful special interests have usurped legitimacy in order to maximize their criminal conspiracies and corruption, graft, kickbacks, wholesale theft, protected rackets, etc., unchallenged.<br><br>Viva La Revolution!<br>Power to the People!<br>Kick out the Jams, Muthafucka!<br>Where the People are United They will NEVER Be Defeated!<br><br>Starman<br>******<br><br>More, and an update on the Mexican people's determined effort to reclaim their citizen-led democracy (somewhat biased, critical 'poll' results included implying majority of public considers Obrador and his followers can't be trusted to refrain from violence -- likely an assumption artifact due to how the 'poll' was conducted; Certainly most Mexicans are painfully aware of the police and paramilitary's propensity for gratuitous violence against non-violent citizens -- so who's kidding who? ie., included for US PR 'management' purposes, to delegitimize Obrador and the protesters? "Bizzness as Usual". Let's hope a New Day of Truth, Social Justice and Decency is Dawning in Mexico, eh? Perhaps to filter north and encourage us.)<br><br>***<br>Protesters set up barricades in Mexico City <br>By Kevin Diaz & David Ovalle <br><br>McClatchy Newspapers <br><br><br>MEXICO CITY - Thousands of protesters set up barricades along Mexico City's central thoroughfare Sunday night hours after the largest demonstration in Mexico's history filled the main square in support of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's election challenge. <br><br><br>Police made no effort to intervene as the protesters set up tents and blocked traffic, apparently in response to Lopez Obrador's call for the establishment of 47 "permanent assemblies" to press his claims of fraud in the July 2 elections. Lopez Obrador lost the vote to conservative Felipe Calderon by less than 1 percent of 41 million ballots cast. <br><br><br>Protesters at one of the barricades on the Paseo de la Reforma said they would remain there until a federal tribunal hearing Lopez Obrador's challenge orders a recount of every ballot. <br><br><br>The street action comes amid mounting tensions in the post-election dispute and was the first sign that Lopez Obrador's supporters intended to take their protests beyond organized mass rallies. <br><br><br>The blocking of Reforma, a giant boulevard that stretches across Mexico City's central corridor, came after a record 1.2 million gathered by midday in the Zocalo, the city's historic central square, to hear Lopez Obrador. <br><br><br>The gathering - the third such rally since the election results were announced - was smaller than the 2 million Lopez Obrador had promised two weeks ago, when he brought together 1.1 million followers. <br><br><br>But police said it was the largest demonstration in Mexico's history, and analysts said it was enough to lend momentum to Lopez Obrador's case, which currently is being considered by Mexico's federal election tribunal, which must declare a winner by Sept. 6. <br><br><br>"The electoral tribunal has to rule independently, but they have to be aware of public opinion," said John Ackerman, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. <br><br><br>Lopez Obrador told the crowd he wouldn't hold another mass march. Instead, he called on his supporters to organize "permanent assemblies" to hold around-the-clock vigils throughout the city until the tribunal rules. <br><br><br>He vowed that the assemblies would be "disciplined and respectful," though he did not rule out potential civic disruptions, for which he apologized in advance. <br><br><br>"We will be here until we have a recount of the votes that gives us a legitimate president," Lopez Obrador told the cheering crowd. <br><br><br>While he was proposing the encampments, he said, it would be up to his followers to decide how to carry them out, a posture that seemed to distance him from any possible trouble. <br><br><br>"We are here in peace," said Basilio Martinez, one of the tent dwellers setting up on the Paseo de la Reforma, shortly after darkness fell. "We don't have written permission from the police, of course, because they can't give it to us. But they are not intervening." <br><br><br>Sunday's march came as lawyers for Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN, met with the tribunal's seven members to discuss the case. On Saturday, Lopez Obrador's representatives met with the justices. <br><br><br>"Not only is the presidency at stake, but so are the rights of the people," Lopez Obrador said at the rally. "It's not a lot to ask for a new count of the votes. That would calm the country and assure stability." <br><br><br>The massive rally and the private judicial proceedings - no one from the public was allowed to monitor the justices' meetings with the two camps - <br>mapped a week of increasing friction during the post-election dispute. Both sides have declared victory. <br><br><br>The candidates amped up the rhetoric Wednesday - Lopez Obrador declared himself "president of Mexico," while Calderon's camp said Lopez Obrador is bordering on "messianic." <br><br><br>The spectacle on Sunday proved every bit as colorful and noisy as two previous Lopez Obrador marches. <br><br><br>Marchers whacked empty water jugs with sticks, a man atop a truck wore an oversized paper Lopez Obrador head, and a giant TV screen broadcast live protest shots set to throbbing electronic music. <br><br><br>\Selling coffee mugs bearing Lopez Obrador's portrait, street vendor Maria del Carmen Silvestre, 32, said he remains the best hope for the nation's poor. <br><br><br>"Calderon won't do anything for us," she said. "With Lopez Obrador we will get work and we will survive." <br><br><br>Lopez Obrador arrived at the packed square aboard a motorcade that had passed down the Paseo de la Reforma, where a statue of Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, was draped with a huge banner that read "At your orders, Mr. <br>President." <br><br><br>People carried signs bearing the likeness of Mexico's first indigenous president of Mexico, Benito Juarez. <br><br><br>One young woman dressed in white hung from a wooden crucifix. Her yellow sash read "Democracy." <br><br><br>"We're a very Catholic country. It's Mexican idiosyncracy," said university professor Guadalupe Rodriguez, 48. "But it doesn't mean (Lopez Obrador) is messianic. It's a form of expression." <br><br><br>Despite Sunday's massive turnout, a poll published Sunday showed concerns over Lopez Obrador's movement. <br><br><br>The poll, sponsored by the Reforma newspaper, showed that 58 percent of Mexicans don't believe Lopez Obrador when he says he'll respect the decision of the electoral court. Fifty-seven percent believe his protest campaign could spark violence. <br><br><br>Also, 59 percent said they believe he has acted "irresponsibly" since the July 2 elections, compared to 28 percent who said the same of Calderon. <br><br><br>Ovalle reports for The Miami Herald. <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15160108.htm">www.mercurynews.com/mld/m...160108.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <p></p><i></i>