Election protests paralyze Mexico City

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 Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador paralyzed the city's financial district on July 30 and said they won't leave until the top electoral court rules on their demands for a recount in the disputed race. As of Aug. 2, protest camps continued to block streets and disrupt commerce in the capital city. Obrador spent the night of July 30 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. Impromptu soccer and baseball games sprung up among protesters along the boulevard. 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. Obrador offered his apologies "for any inconvenience our movement may cause." The city police, whose commanders have political ties to Obrador, estimated that about 1.2 million people attended the march, making it one of the largest in the country's history. The estimate could not be confirmed by other means, but the central square, which holds about 100,000 people, was packed, a sea of people wearing the bright yellow of Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The crowd spilled into nearby streets, filling major avenues for a half-mile in every direction. Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas Encinas said on July 31 that his government wouldn't forcibly remove the protesters despite a call from President Vicente Fox to do so. The multitude–farmers and working-class people bused from rural towns, as well as left-leaning urban professionals–thundered the chant "Vote by vote, polling place by polling place" as Obrador took the stage. Addressing demonstrators on July 30, Obrador called for hundreds of thousands of his supporters to erect permanent protest camps and a five-mile-long blockade to cripple Mexico's capital until a disputed presidential election is decided. He also called for 32 sit-ins across the city, another step in his campaign to ratchet up pressure on the court to order a recount and on his opponent to accept it. So far, the protests and marches he has led have been peaceful, though he said that more acts of civil disobedience would be planned. "We will take drastic measures. We will blockade airports, we will take over embassies," marcher Sara Zepeda, 32, said as she pushed her two-month-old son in a baby carriage. Brenda Fernández, a 33-year-old homemaker, said as she marched past the Palacio de Bellas Artes that she expected the court to deny Obrador's request and that violence would erupt afterward. "Look, there was already one revolution, why not another?" she said. "We are at the point of violence, and the government better understand that." Obrador is demanding a recount of 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. 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. Calderon, a conservative backed by big business, appeared before the electoral tribunal's seven judges on July 30 to argue that the election was clean and that a full recount was unnecessary and illegal. 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. Obrador's attorneys argued in a court hearing on July 29 that there were mathematical errors, falsifications or other problems at 72,000 of the country's 130,000 polling places. Obrador, ratcheted up the ongoing election standoff on July 25 by declaring himself the president of Mexico. His claim to victory was made in an interview on the US Spanish-language channel Univision. "I am the president of Mexico," he said. "I am the president of Mexico by the will of the majority." On July 22, Obrador filed a lawsuit alleging the board of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) failed to keep business interests from funding last-minute attack ads against him. "They don't act according to the law," he told the Associated Press on July 26. The IFE is running what can be described as defensive TV and radio ads congratulating Mexicans for holding a fair election. Mexico's election laws and independent election commission are regarded as among the best in the Americas. International observers from the European Union and Global Exchange gave the election an overall good bill of health. But Global Exchange has now come out in support of recounting the 42 million ballots "because of the close result and the multiple inconsistencies alleged." Election officials say most of the arithmetic problems can be explained by human error on election night, as poll workers reported numbers to election officials. The official tally three days later cleared up most of those mistakes, officials say. Fraud is also highly unlikely, they say. One would have to bribe four polling officials, all chosen at random from lists of registered voters, to falsify results at a polling place. Still, most of Obrador's followers say not much has changed since the 1980s, when the government controlled and manipulated the vote count to make sure members of the conservative Institutional Revolution Party remained in power. That party ruled Mexico with only token opposition until Vicente Fox's historic victory in 2000, after the IFE became independent. Whether or not he is granted a recount–and most believe it won't happen–Obrador appears determined to go down swinging. "He's leading a post-election struggle that in embryonic form could be a broad social movement," said Daniel Lund, a Mexico City-based analyst. "He's not Gandhi, but he's Lopez Obrador." The candidate has earned a reputation for his deft use of civil disobedience. A little more than a year ago, he beat back efforts by Congress and President Vicente Fox to have him disqualified as a presidential candidate. Millions marched on his behalf. Obrador then led a presidential campaign that promised to help Mexico's poor, who make up half the population, and end the privileges of the wealthy.