00676: There are elections,,,, than there are elections
From:
"Bruce Eggum" <bruce.eggum(at)gmail.com>
Date:
Fri, 4 Aug 2006 16:32:00 -0500
Subject:
There are elections,,,, than there are elections
This Mexican Election reveals how diligent democrats must be to ensure an accurate, valid election occurs. This must be done with a very well structured program with checks and balances. It is suggested that Bush had his "personal election officials assisting" Caldron in the election.
I praise and salute these Mexican Teachers, Civilians and Supporters who are demanding a recount, or another election.
Here in the USA the election process is in shambles.
If we are to have a democracy, with people having at least a "voice" in the process, elections will have to be valid and true.
Regards, Bruce Eggum
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: MSN News and Analysis -July 10-30, 2006
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 14:51:48 -0400
From: Mexico Solidarity Network
MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK
WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS
JULY 10-30, 2006
1. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DYNAMICS
2. FEDERAL OFFICIALS CLOSE FEMICIDE INVESTIGATION
3. ZAPATISTA RED ALERT CONTINUES
4. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS, Contact MSN(at)MexicoSolidarity.org
1. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DYNAMICS
For the first week following the July 2
presidential elections, PAN candidate Felipe
Calderon held all the cards. A Federal Electoral
Institute (IFE) heavily stacked in his favor
delivered a narrow, though tentative, victory with
a margin of about 240,000 votes from nearly 42
million cast. But the election was rigged from
the start. Of the nine IFE members, four were
appointed by the PAN and five by Elba Esther
Gordillo when she was head of the PRI bank in the
lower House. The PRD has no representation.
Gordillo, a former PRI president and head of the
powerful teachers union, broke with her party’s
presidential candidate, Roberto Madrazo, early in
the primary process, forming a separate party that
fielded a full slate of candidates in an effort to
draw support away from Madrazo. Despite the
formation of her own party, she supported Calderon
during most of the campaign, and her IFE
appointees were practically part of the PAN
campaign team. The IFE permitted serious campaign
violations that, under a strict interpretation of
the law, may have resulted in the loss of the
PAN’s party registration. President Fox spent six
months openly campaigning for Calderon (despite
his personal reservations toward the hard right
candidate), something that is strictly prohibited
under Mexican law. Millions of pesos in federal
programs were spent in an apparently successful
effort to secure votes. For example, more than
40% of Oportunidades recipients voted for
Calderon, often under threat of losing their
benefits. Five million women, mostly single heads
of households, receive Oportunidades. This is not
a group that would generally have an affinity for
the business oriented Calderon. The private
sector spent millions on television and radio ads
in support of the PAN, and the party itself
exceeded campaign spending limits, both serious
violations of election law. By election day, the
deck was stacked.
The election mechanics in Mexico are supposed to
be fool proof. Polling station representatives
are chosen at random, somewhat like jury selection
in the US. Parties can send an observer to each
polling station as well, though the PRD only
covered about 70% of the stations nationally, and
due to serious internal divisions within the
party, it’s unclear if many of the representatives
provided any genuine oversight. The Mexican
political class is accustomed to negotiations, and
it’s very possible that the election process
itself was negotiated during the vote-counting.
There are all kinds of opportunities for fraud.
Many polling site managers are poorly trained, and
hundreds were reportedly replaced with party hacks
during the final days leading up to the election.
The PRD documented at least 50,000 mathematical
errors at polling stations, from a total of about
130,000 sites, including more votes than ballots
and more votes than registered voters. Despite
increasing reports of errors and outright fraud,
the IFE proceeded to count votes in the week
following the election, but not without serious
problems that tarnished their reputation as an
impartial institution. First, they “lost” about 3
million votes, which re-appeared 24 hours later.
Luis Carlos Ugalde, IFE president, managed the
press, highlighting every positive turn for
Calderon and downplaying every advantage for PRD
candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Although
the IFE is only responsible for managing the
election mechanics, Ugalde took the liberty to
announce a “winner” four days after the election,
then spent the following weeks spinning
information via press conferences and paid
television ads.
Despite nearly daily reports of irregularities,
for the first two weeks it looked as though
Calderon was solidifying a political, if not
necessarily a legally binding, victory, but the
dynamics changed radically on July 16 when over a
million people turned out in Mexico City’s Zocalo
in support of Lopez Obrador. The PRD candidate
demanded a full recount and claimed victory in the
election. He solidified his support on July 30
when perhaps 1.2 million people came to the
Zocalo, almost certainly the largest demonstration
in the history of Mexico. During the
demonstration he announced a permanent non-violent
mobilization in all 31 states until the Federal
Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE) agrees to a full recount.
Meanwhile, despite his bold initial announcements,
Calderon has been surprisingly on the defensive
for much of the past two weeks. Calderon was
always somewhat of a pariah in his own party. He
tried to distance himself politically from Fox
during the campaign and he has a running battle
with PAN president Manuel Espino. Nevertheless,
the response of his party has been surprising.
Officials closed his campaign headquarters within
days of the election, denying him a logistical
center from which to defend his position. Most
leading PAN officials virtually disappeared from
public view, with the Espino taking a highly
public vacation in Spain. Searching for allies,
Calderon scheduled a highly publicized press event
claiming union support, but only a retired
electrical worker with no official union post and
two largely discredited union bosses formerly
aligned with the PRI bothered to show up.
Televisa and TV Azteca, both strong supporters of
Calderon, breathlessly reported his labor support.
There is plenty of evidence to justify a recount,
or even to annul the election and start over. IFE
officials opened hundreds of sealed ballot boxes
in the weeks following the election, apparently in
an effort to square the numbers. PRD activists
caught local election officials burning ballots in
Guerrero. In Tabasco, election officials removed
sealed documents under army protection at 2:00 am,
then defended the action as “routine.” PRD
representatives presented a box full of ballots
found in the garbage to embarrassed IFE officials
during a public hearing. Despite increasing
reports of anomalies, Lopez Obrador insists that
he wants a full recount but not an annulment.
Meanwhile, the PRD is anything but unified.
Despite the mobilizing capacity of Lopez Obrador,
many PRD officials are quietly encouraging
moderation. In December, the PRD will become the
second force in the lower House and barely trails
the PRI to form the third force in the Senate.
Newly elected Deputies and Senators are interested
in protecting their prerogatives rather than
risking their institutionality in street
demonstrations. So far, Lopez Obrador has been
able to maintain a united public front, but no one
knows how long this might last. Many high-ranking
PRD officials are former members of the PRI,
accustomed to backroom negotiations rather than
popular mobilization. In the context of militant
striking miners, a labor movement that opposes six
more years of the PAN, an increasingly powerful
movement in Oaxaca that may succeed in replacing
the governor with a popular tribunal, and a
national movement built around the Other Campaign,
Lopez Obrador may not be able to control popular
dissent like a water faucet. The TRIFE has until
September 6 to announce a decision. Until then,
and perhaps long afterward, expect an increasingly
restless and empowered public to take to the streets.
2. FEDERAL OFFICIALS CLOSE FEMICIDE INVESTIGATION
The federal Attorney General quietly closed a
limited investigation of femicides committed in
Ciudad Juarez over the past decade. Under
pressure from families and international
solidarity, in 2003 the Fox administration opened
an inquiry into 14 of the over 300 femicides
reported in this border city, but officials
returned the cases to state prosecutors in June
for lack of evidence. Victim’s families were not
notified of the decision; they read about it in
local newspapers. Local police are widely
believed to be either inept or directly involved
in the crimes. Fox apparently decided to drop the
cases because they offer no political benefit as
his presidency winds to a conclusion.
3. ZAPATISTA RED ALERT CONTINUES
Subcomandante Marcos defended the continuing red
alert in Zapatista communities as their means of
resistance in the face of government repression in
Atenco. On July 27, Marcos explained that the red
alert is “our way of doing things. We don’t
support only through words.” The Zapatistas
declared a red alert on May 4, the same day police
invaded San Salvador Atenco in Mexico State,
arresting over 200 people. Police raped dozens of
women and beat many of the detainees.
Twenty-seven people remain in prison, including
the leadership of the People’s Front in Defense of
the Land, on trumped up charges of kidnapping and
assault. All five Caracoles, centers of Zapatista
resistance in Chiapas, are closed during the red
alert, and the Zapatista military structure is
prepared for battle if necessary.