Okay--sounds great until you realize that the guy behind Mexico Matters was kicked our of Berkley in the '60's
I have know him for many years and he only smokes the huge bombers. Thoughts he has, but watch your pockets.
Mexico Matters.net
MEXICO’S 2006 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
A STEP BACKWARD FOR DEMOCRACY IN MEXICO
By Jose A. Perez
September 2006
The hotly contested results of this year’s presidential election left a bad taste in the mouths of most Mexicans. Left of center candidate Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador, the declared loser by only 233,000 votes, has charged electoral fraud and is asking his supporters to disavow the new
administration of president elect Felipe Calderon. Massive demonstrations by Lopez supporters brought Mexico City to a stand still and cost downtown
merchants tens of millions of dollars in lost business since the contested July election.
Obrador and his party (PRD) filed their formal complaints with IFE, the governmental tribunal established to adjudicate claims of voting
irregularities or misconduct. In addition to demanding a total recount of the votes, they also charge that campaign advertising, by both the PAN
(Fox’s ruling party) and PRI (dinosaur party rule for 70yrs.) violated statutes of fairness. The IFE, which includes representatives of the PAN and
PRI parties, has no representation from the PRD. .
On September 6, IFE decided there was insufficient evidence to overturn the victory of Calderon. A blanket rejection of the claims of irregularities,
without justification for said decision, has resulted in PRD congress members and voters threatening to obstruct the transition of power. They are
threatening civil disobedience on inauguration day. And were already successful in blocking President Fox from delivering his state of the union
message to congress on September one.
This has been one of the most emotionally charged elections in Mexican history. Fifty percent of Mexico’s electorate live below the poverty line and
are demanding fundamental changes in the distribution of wealth. An issue Lopez Obrador addressed most specifically in his campaign. His slogan was
“for the good of all, especially the poor”.
Mexicans don’t trust the institutions of government including the electoral apparatus. In 1986 Salinas de Gortari was declared the winner over left
wing candidate Cautemoc Card##as and almost everyone in Mexico believes the ballot count was rigged to rob Card##as of the presidency. The difference
in this election is that Mexicans in 2006 are now “mad as hell and won’t take it anymore”, to borrow a line from the movie “The Network”. In addition
to civil disobedience in the nation’s capital, the state of Oaxaca has been in a localized civil war. Students, teachers and labor unionists
violently took over the state capitol and ran tourists out of this most favored of Mexican destinations. They are demanding the state governor’s
resignation and thus far he has refused.
What is happening to our beloved Mexico? Are we in for more radical and destabilizing actions on the part of a disenfranchised populace? Is foreign
investment likely to be affected? The growth pains and conflicts are understandable. Mexico’s economy, a short 25 years ago, was state controlled
and owned. The PRI party was assumed to have control in perpetuity, having held autocratic control for the first 70 years of the republic’s history.
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari radically changed the paradigm of control and his successor president Zedillo made further reforms that led to
the first opposition party presidential victory by Fox in 2000. Reforms for making IFE a more responsible and credible institution must surely be
implemented after this past election debacle.
Most political observers agree that Mexico’s conservative nature will win out over the more radical elements in the body politic. However, it will
behoove president elect Calderon to involve the losing PRD party in building a nation with less disparity between the haves and have nots. Mexico’s
primary challenge is to develop citizen respect for the institutions of government .
It is mind blowing to me as a U.S. ex patriot that the violence enacted in Mexico City and Oaxaca were tolerated by the police and politicians in
power. I watched in awe the television footage of policemen being beaten by demonstrators. This type of violence would not be tolerated by U.S.
police officers or elected officials. In the case of Mexico City, local journalists explain that the police did not react to a mob crashing their
line of defense with a huge steel beam because they are sympathetic to Lopez Obrador and his supporters. This was definitely intent to cause bodily
harm and would have resulted in the shooting, or at least disabling, of aggressive demonstrators had the incident occurred in the United States.
In addition to electoral reforms, Mexico must develop and elect more responsible political leaders. The caliber of the average Mexican politician is
pathetic and PRD party members last month provided the example. Their shouts of traitor and disorderly behavior, in the halls of congress, disallowed
President Fox to deliver his state of the union address. These are the acts befitting hooligans not democratic reformers. A very undemocratic
expression of “you must submit to our demands or else”. One of the major problems with selecting congressmen and also city mayors is they can only
serve one three year term. This provides no re election motives for working to satisfy the electorate. Constituent needs are ignored in favor of
grabbing all the spoils you can during this short single term.
A psycho-political debility in Mexico is the fear of major change in government. As I mentioned early in this article, Mexicans are by nature
conservative. In healthy democracies and elections around the world, the pendulum swings both left and right. A true democracy is flexible and bends
with changing political winds. Dramatic shifts in political policies are viewed as reversible if not successful. Mexico’s status quo has an
exaggerated mistrust and fear of the political left. The Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE) reflected this fear in not allowing a recount of the votes
contested by the losing party. Unfortunately this puts a crooked slant on the face of victory for Felipe Calderon and his PAN party. He is starting
his term in office with suspicions that he represents the status quo and Mexico needs changes and reforms he is unlikely to embrace. Calderon must
take office boldly and assure citizens that a better economic life for all is his number one priority.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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