Mexico leftist to swear in as "legitimate president"

[ECH1969]

Mexico's leftist opposition leader was to swear in as "legitimate president" on Monday to revive his flagging campaign against a July election he says was rigged and to prevent his conservative rival from running the country.

Tens of thousands of supporters were expected to cram into Mexico City's vast Zocalo square to see Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador take an oath of office in a ceremony that has no legal weight but could mark the start of new street protests.

Ruling party conservative Felipe Calderon won the July 2 election by a razor-thin margin and Mexico's top election court threw out Lopez Obrador's claims of massive fraud,

The leftist crippled central Mexico City for several weeks after the election by setting up protests camps, but his campaign has since faded.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061120/ts_nm/mexico_leftist_dc_1

[Raine]

1. Good for their side

I wish Gore had done the same thing.

[Joanne98]

2. And "The Disappearers" are back. Can you say Negropointe?

APPO supporters endure torture

Rene Trujillo Martínez, a thin 25-year-old lawyer and volunteer radio announcer with the Oaxaca People´s Assembly (APPO), holds the uncomfortable distinction of having survived a disappearance

By John Gibler/Special to The Herald Mexico
El Universal
Lunes 20 de noviembre de 2006

Rene Trujillo Martínez, a thin 25-year-old lawyer and volunteer radio announcer with the Oaxaca People´s Assembly (APPO), holds the uncomfortable distinction of having survived a disappearance.
Trujillo was recently abducted from his apartment by armed men in civilian clothes, brutally beaten at gunpoint, taken to a safe house and tortured. He says he was then held incommunicado for two days while being interrogated by federal authorities, and then, miraculously, released on bail.

According to APPO spokespeople and the Mexican League for Human Rights Defense in Oaxaca, at least 30 APPO protesters are currently missing, awaiting a similar miracle.

"Usually the disappearances are not so massive as they are now, 30 in just a few days," said Florentino López, a spokesperson for the APPO, referring to the number of protesters who have allegedly been abducted or gone missing in the past two weeks since the arrival of federal police in Oaxaca.

"Like torture, disappearances are a part of state terrorism against social movements," he said.

Federal and state authorities denied interview requests for this article.


ABDUCTION


On Nov. 7, at about 2:15 p.m., Trujillo and two friends got out of a taxi and began walking up Santo Tomás, the narrow, hilly side street that leads to Trujillo´s rented room. They noticed a group of men following them and began to run. The men also broke into a sprint, catching up to Trujillo and his friends just as they were closing the garage door.

The men, at least six of them according to several eye-witness accounts, forced their way into the garage with pistols in hand, firing and then beating the three young men, forcing them out into the street.

"I don´t know if they were waiting for him or following him, but they came in with pistols and everything," said one witness (all witnesses interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity). "They were dressed in civilian clothes. They came in hitting him; they pulled him out violently. They didn´t even talk; it was pure violence."

Trujillo and his two friends, Mauricio Marmolejo and Benito Pereda Fernández, were each held down and beaten in the street by two men. But it was Trujillo they were after, and Trujillo who received the most intense beating: after being struck repeatedly in the face with the barrel of a pistol, Trujillo´s assailant stuck his gun into Trujillo´s mouth while slamming his head against the wall.

Days later Trujillo´s blood was still visible on the rocks outside his house.


RADIO ANNOUNCER


Trujillo participated in the June 14 takeover of Radio Universidad and volunteered around the station until a paid saboteur threw acid on the transmitter and the station went off the air. But Trujillo hung around, helping maintain the barricade protecting the university station. He then began as a program announcer on Oct. 21 when the radio went back on the air with a repaired transmitter.

Trujillo ran the 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. program, known as Barricade Radio, providing information about police movements around town and barricades that needed reinforcement.

APPO protesters began to build hundreds of barricades throughout Oaxaca City after gunmen linked to local police opened fire on their protest camps on Aug. 22, killing one protester.


KIDNAPPED


The gunmen forced Trujillo and his friends into a yellow rental pick-up truck, which they had called for by cell phone during the beatings, according to witnesses. The assailants then covered the men´s faces with their shirts and forced them face down in the back of the truck, knees pinning down their backs.

After driving for about 20 minutes, the gunmen stopped and switched to a white pick-up truck, where they placed nylon hoods over the three men and then took them to a warehouse - they think near the airport.

At the warehouse the gunmen tortured them, sticking needles under their finger nails (the scars were visible three days later), applying electric shocks to their feet, beating them on the head, and choking them, according to the three men, who were later released.

They asked them to identify militants in the APPO, the most active people at Radio Universidad, and the men who had captured two soldiers, and later released them, a few days before. The men had Oaxaca, Mexico City and northern Mexican accents.


BEING FRAMED


After some 10 hours of torture, the gunmen made them hold guns and then took pictures and filmed them with the guns in their hands. The three men were then taken to the federal Attorney General´s Office (PGR) complex in Oaxaca and charged with the federal crime of possession of illegal firearms.

They were held incommunicado at the PGR, where again they were interrogated and terrorized by threats. On Nov. 9, they were released on bail. Trujillo says he paid US$4,000 for his liberty.

It is unclear how many protesters have disappeared in the past weeks. With rumors constantly circulating through town, the number could be significantly less, or higher, than 30 - the number of known APPO protesters reported missing by family members.

The involvement of several levels of authorities also complicates the issue, says Jessica Sánchez, the president of the Mexican League for Human Rights Defense in Oaxaca.

Local, state and federal authorities make detentions without regard to jurisdiction, she said, and they take prisoners to random jails across the state.

The victims are refused access to lawyers and human rights workers, making the job of locating and identifying those on the list of disappeared extremely difficult, Sánchez said.

"This is testimony to the state of suspended guarantees in Oaxaca," she said, "of the lack of governability and the failure of public institutions."

[slackmaster]

3. Amazing how many fail to see that AMLO is grandstanding

He's long past any legitimate claim to the Presidency of Mexico. Due process under the Mexican constitution and justice system has run its course.

[EST]

4. Grandstanding is the only way to win, or even draw attention to

political insanity and corruption, while shedding a minimum of blood.

[slackmaster]

5. Sure, but it can be (and is here IMO being) used for personal glory

Rather than a true commitment to doing what's right.

Don't take this wrong - I am in no way denying that corruption and cheating are ongoing problems in the Mexican electoral system. But AMLO did not win the election, and his present actions are inappropriate.

[Adelante]

6. Agree completely

:hi:

[plasticsundance]

9. If there is cheating in the election ... then

pray tell, how do you conclude that ALMO lost the election? And how do you devine the mind of ALMO to conclude that he is grand standing? He might know something you don't. As a whole, Latin America is turning to the left. Even if some call him a moderate, he is far above the politicians in the US, where there isn't a viable left.

And I don't mean liberals or progressives ... I mean ... leftists

I've been to Latin America, and it is amazing the influence and power that the left has in those countries.

[slackmaster]

10. I'm not the one who made the determination

The Mexican court system did, and neither you nor I are better qualified to decide who won.

And how do you devine the mind of ALMO to conclude that he is grand standing?

It's obvious from his behavior. He's pandering to the left.

I've been to Latin America, and it is amazing the influence and power that the left has in those countries.

But not all of Mexico. The northwest is capitalist.

[Flanker]

18. So I guess you were against the Orange Revolution?

Its the same thing

[slackmaster]

21. Wow, a Red Herring

The level of fraud in Mexico in 2006 wasn't in the same league as the 2004 Ukraine election, if that is what you are referring to.

[Flanker]

22. You are wrong

The level of fraud in a winner take all election is the result not the marging of stealing, an election decided by one voter only needs one irregularity for it to be considered fraud.

[slackmaster]

23. I'll try to make sense of Flanker's post after I get some coffee in me

The level of fraud in a winner take all election is the result not the marging of stealing, an election decided by one voter only needs one irregularity for it to be considered fraud.

Or maybe I should smoke a big fat "hooter" of South Park Purple sinsemilla instead.

:smoke:

In all seriousness, has there ever been an election that everyone beleived to be completely free of irregularities?

[Flanker]

24. No but generally those with more irregularities than vote difference

Are considered fraudulent. That is what is argued about 2000 afterall.

[slackmaster]

27. Still trying to parse "more irregularities than vote difference"

There is no way to quantify the effect the reported irregularities in the Mexican election of 2006 had on the outcome. Too much information has been lost in the form of ballot boxes dumped in landfills, "extra" ballots that appeared over and above the number of people who actually voted in precincts, etc.

The Mexican court system determined that there was not enough evidence to say that the reported outcome was incorrect.

That is what is argued about 2000 afterall.

Eh?

I thought the 2000 election controversy was that the United States Supreme Court voted 7–2 to end the recounts in Florida on the grounds that differing standards in different counties constituted an equal protection violation, and 5–4 that a new recount with uniform standards applied after the fact would be unconstitutional under Florida law.

But may be my memory is flawed.

[Flanker]

31. Well that quantification is what people use to argue fraud

It is the way it has always worked, nobody has ever stood trial a day after the election and convicted of voter fraud, every single time it is something like this "the level irregularities show fraud". Since all elections have irregularities victory margin plays a deciding role.

During the 2000 elections many argue about the black voter intimidation that could have easily been more than the 500 vote margin.

[slackmaster]

35. And no quantification = no proof

Only allegations and knee-jerk beliefs.

[Flanker]

36. Then how did the Orangers prove fraud?

nm

[slackmaster]

37. Again, not the same situation

The exit polls in Ukraine did not prove fraud, they suggested it and pointed the way to discovering how it was actually perpetrated.

International election monitors found clear evidence harassment, intimidation, multiple voting, fraudulent registration, and old-fashioned ballot box stuffing. THAT is how the fraud was proved - Physical evidence of enough foul play to have materially altered the election result.

[Flanker]

47. All of that are irregularities that are quantified in crying fraud.

Nobody did a study, tallied the votes to see if those shifted enough votes , went to court etc. They simply saw mass irregularities that they percieved changed the margin for the loser. And cried fraud.

[Ignis]

49. Exacly: INTERNATIONAL election monitors!

Why are comparing apples to oranges, slackmaster?

It appears that you wish us to accept the "due process" of the internal mechanisms of the Mexican government (judicial review, etc.) surrounding this recent troubled election. And yet you justify the clear fraud in the Ukranian election as having been uncovered by external, international election monitors.

Why not apply the same standard to both elections?

[Joanne98]

26. Or the Cedar Revolution. They're "good" as long as the CIA saz so.

[slackmaster]

28. Sounds like a genetic fallacy

No new information in that post.

[Joanne98]

29. Oh. OK!

[plasticsundance]

39. And so ... you continue to devine the his mind

It's obvious from his behavior. He's pandering to the left.


So? What's wrong with that? :shrug:

And your point is ... ?

But not all of Mexico. The northwest is capitalist.


Everyone is well aware of the corporatracy in Mexico ... your point is?

[liberalpragmatist]

11. I agree with you

I personally think that recounts ought to have been more extensive; but the court has ruled. I believe in the rule of law and he ought to stop grandstanding.

For that matter (and I'm sure there are plenty of DU'ers that would vigorously disagree with me), because of my belief in the rule of law, I think Gore was RIGHT to concede when he did. The S.C. made a poor decision, but if we're going to go by the constitutional and legal code, what other option did he have? Lots of DU'ers think Gore should have staged some sort of violent revolution.

[lagavulin]

46. Spoken like a die-hard Kerry supporter!

In a real democracy, real leaders oppose corruption. Not just roll over and play lackey.

[greccogirl]

17. He CANNOT win, he

has already lost.

[Vidar]

15. Obrador & his supporters have the stomach for revolution. Sorry to hear

that you don't.

[slackmaster]

20. More than 2/3 of the voters in Mexico do not support AMLO

I surely would not want to be part of that kind of "revolution". I think "putsch" would be a more accurate term.

[Adelante]

42. 3/4 currently

There have been a few recent polls around 75% opposed.

[Vidar]

43. I wonder what kind of poll results the gestapo could have obtained

in occupied France?

[greccogirl]

16. It's really sad

that he is continuing this farce. Makes you wonder if this guy isn't all there.

[w4rma]

30. You solution would be to do what? Nothing? Twiddle your thumbs. Wait as more elections are stolen?

Btw, what have you done about our own stolen elections here in America?

[slackmaster]

32. We haven't had any stolen elections here in California

Our voting systems are sufficiently auditable that it would be very difficult to pull off.

I'd like to see other states adopt similar or stronger safeguards, but I don't have any control over them.

The Mexican election wasn't stolen. What Lopez Obrador is trying to do now looks a lot like, frankly, an attempt to steal the election.

[w4rma]

33. I suppose it was too much to ask from you. You don't seem to care about elections in other *states*

much less elections in a neighboring *country*.

[slackmaster]

34. Argumentum ad hominem and a Straw Man

Two classic logical fallacies for the price of one!

(Hint: If you'd just read my replies in this thread, you might be a little less confused about what I think.)

[rman]

45. "authorities say so" fallacy

Appeal to authority

[mirandapriestly]

7. "leftist" - He's actually very moderate

Notice how they propagandize to give the impression that he's some garrett dwelling Marxist. This election was stolen with the help of the U.S. and ChoicePoint and everyone knows it.

[slackmaster]

8. "everyone knows" fallacy

Argumentum ad populum.

[Adelante]

12. Agree he's no leftist

The lopezobrador wing of the PRD is the old PRI in new clothes, as autocratic and as anti-democratic as ever. This is not true of the party as a whole, but the PRD is feeling the hurt; membership in free fall and facing bankruptcy. In any case, AMLO never proved the election was stolen. He only said it enough times and loudly enough for people to start questioning it. The vast majority of Mexican voters, while they accept there was some fraud (a "usual" level), also believe the elections courts are fair. Part of AMLO's problem is that, if his own election was fraudulent, there is no reason to think the elections of his party's members to state and municipal office were not as well. But this is the sort of hypocrisy AMLO engages in all the time. That's why I have no use for him, because he's not a leftist and because he's a bullshit artist.

[gorbal]

13. Forming alternative goverments is big in Mexico.

APPO's new congress is using chiapas as an example of how to run an alternative government.http://ww4report.com/node/2793

They really do need to come together when the so called legimate "government" is disappearing and torturing mexican citizens that support them.

[Vidar]

14. What both Gore & Kerry should have doe. Viva Obrador.

[donsu]

19. agree

nt

[IndianaGreen]

40. We should have taken to the streets like the Mexicans did

and rejected the usurper in the White House. Freedom died in America because people did not want to be bothered with the truth about the elections.

"We now return to our regular programming" reads the epitaph for the American republic!

[mom cat]

25. Actually, the event will be for swearing in the people as co-presidents!

[rinsd]

38. God, two assholes who garnered a 1/3 of the votes calling themselves the people

:eyes:

[goforit]

41. This is a hotbed!!!

[rman]

44. The Evidence of Election Fraud

The evidence is in the statistical improbability of last minute results from remote districts coming in at up to 100 to 1 in favor of Calderon, while the first 95% of results were approximately 1 to 1, several % in favor of Obrador.



Note how it took 11 hours to count the last 2.3% - almost as long as it took to count the first 90% of the votes - that gave Calderon his 0.58% victory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_general_election%2C_2006

[gorbal]

48. I wonder if those districts were amojng those recounted.

I remember they were discussing how in those districts where Calderon pulled ahead by an improbably enormous amount there was no witness from Obradors party, oddly enough.

[Matilda]

50. Greg Palast reported from Mexico at the time.

GREG PALAST: On a computer printout, Dr. Romero showed how the official tallies matched the exit polls, with challenger Lopez Obrador ahead by 2% all night. That is, until the very end, when several precincts came in for the ruling party by 10-to-1, and then 100-to-1, putting their candidate Felipe Calderon over the top, literally in the last minutes. The doctor found that statistically improbable.

VICTOR ROMERO: We reached the point I said, “It’s over.” But then, from 71% ‘til the very end, there was not a single moment in which the difference from one report to the next became bigger.

GREG PALAST: So it didn't change at all. Just was perfect.

VICTOR ROMERO: Perfect, perfect. And so we just couldn't believe it. I mean, it fell -- with 5% to go, it fell one full point.

GREG PALAST: So then, what happened?

VICTOR ROMERO: Another miracle. Statistically, it's a second miracle. But now it is --

GREG PALAST: Well, are you a religious man?

VICTOR ROMERO: I’m not a religious man.

GREG PALAST: So you don't believe in miracles?


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/12/146201


It looked strange then, and it still looks strange.