Supporters of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said their
once-peaceful protest movement would become openly defiant of
Mexican law if a full recount isn't ordered in the disputed
presidential race.
Lopez Obrador supporters, backed by the city government, have
already seized main streets in the heart of the capital, setting up
protest camps on the elegant Reforma Avenue and clashing with
federal police outside Congress.
Gerardo Fernandez, a close aide to Lopez Obrador, refused to say
what illegal acts supporters were planning. But he told reporters
Wednesday the campaign of civil disobedience will begin after a
mass meeting on September 16 and will "imply a position of
rebellion against authorities." He said, however, the movement will
not include an "armed insurgency."
?
"The right is trying to impose a president, and we are not going to
let this happen," Fernandez said.
Mexico's Federal Electoral Court is weighing appeals in the
close race between Lopez Obrador and ruling party candidate Felipe
Caldron, who has an advantage of less than 1 percent. The court has
until September 6 to declare a president-elect.
Protesters sympathetic to Lopez Obrador are already planning to
demonstrate outside Congress on September 1 when President Vicente
Fox makes his state-of-the-nation address, and they refuse to move
their tents for the country's Independence Day celebrations on
September 15-16, possibly forcing the cancellation of celebrations
that include a military parade and thousands gathering to shout
"Viva Mexico!" with the president.
Fernandez said that these actions, which he describes as "legal
civil resistance," will pale in comparison to the new civil
disobedience campaign.
There are also fears of confrontation in southern Chiapas, where
the Zapatista rebels staged an uprising in 1994 and tensions always
run high among rival, armed groups in the countryside.
Lopez Obrador flew to Chiapas on Wednesday to support his
party's gubernatorial candidate, who is running neck-and-neck with
the contender backed by Fox's conservative National Action
Party.
Meanwhile, the electoral court on Wednesday overturned the
victory of a federal deputy from Lopez Obrador's Democratic
Revolution Party, saying it broke electoral laws by having elected
city officials supervising a polling booth. The seat will instead
go to a lawmaker from the once-dominant Institutional Revolutionary
Party, which will have the third-largest bloc in Congress.
The decision still left Democratic Revolution with the
second-largest number of seats in Congress, behind National
Action.
Lopez Obrador insists a recount of all 41 million votes would
expose widespread fraud and award him the presidency. Calderon's
campaign claims the election was clean and has criticized
protesters for "kidnapping" the capital.
With tensions rising in the capital, more than 1,000 federal
police in black body armor have encircled the Congress with steel
barriers and armored vehicles, prompting the leftist Mexico City
government to accuse the Fox administration of
authoritarianism.
But Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said Wednesday the extra
security is needed to stop protesters from taking over the
building.
"It would be a chaotic situation and send a negative message to
the world if Congress was occupied," Aguilar said.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies August 17, 2006)
