Read It Here: A Powerful Speech For Democracy, Lopez Obrador

[Itsthetruth]

López Obrador's Speech Before The Congress Of Mexico

Here are some excerpts from his speech...

"I have not violated the law… and it has never been my intention to cause damage or harm anyone. This case is plagued by falsehoods. I would ask you, where was the damage or the harm? We are speaking of 200 square meters of land there and an attempt to create a street to a hospital. The damage and the harm is being done by those who accuse me.

They don’t judge me for violating a law, but for the way I think and what that represents for the future of Mexico. There are two competing projects at stake: One on behalf of globalization, the other on behalf of the nation. They don’t like that I give support to the most humble and forgotten people and they don’t want that applied at a national level. This is what is at the core of the matter.

....those who think they are masters of this country, the leaders of the PRI and the PAN parties, who want to sell our petroleum and electric industries, who have put our financial institutions into bankruptcy, who have created a nation plagued with inequality. They have delivered this country into the hands of the greediest minority. They want to tax food and medicines but they exempt their protectors from paying taxes. They have ruined the productive capacity of this country and obligated millions of Mexicans to go to the United States to earn a living.

They are afraid that the people will choose a true change. Theirs is a cowardly fear.

I accuse President Vicente Fox Quesada of dishonorable acts with the proposition of tying up the national institutions to fight a political battle.

I accuse the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Mariano Azuela, of subordinating justice to the temporary interests of the powerful when he attended a private meeting with the president, forgetting that it is his duty not to participate in abuses but to protect people from them.

Those who accuse me try to justify their efforts in the name of the law. All authoritarian acts hide behind legality. They are making themselves ridiculous…

They are going to put me in jail for trying to open a street to a hospital, a grave crime. Is that the 'state of law' they are calling for? What state of law is there for those who can’t buy innocence? The majority of judges don’t have the red-blooded courage to resist the pressures of the executive branch. It is about money and those who want a country that is exclusively for the wealthy.

I am proud to be accused by those who fooled Mexico by promising a change but who then conspired with (disgraced former president) Carlos Salinas de Gortari to keep the same forces in power as always. We have a so-called ‘government of change’ that has done nothing!

I am used to struggling. And with the support of men and women of good faith I will continue. I will not plead special legal protection. I will protest peacefully with all those who plead justice and freedom… I will not negotiate behind closed doors to settle this… We will engage in peaceful civil resistance.

But you have already received your orders, and you will act under those orders in spite of that you call yourselves public servants. Your conduct will still have to pass public opinion. Those you obey are the most tenacious violators of the law…

And history will judge us: You and me both.”


Al Giordano from Narco News Bulletin wrote:

"But in decades of covering and attending all kinds of legislative forums, I don’t remember ever seeing a politician show such poise and confidence in front of a lynch mob of corrupt legislators. He may be removed from office tonight, but anyone watching the power and force with which he turned his defense into a prosecution knows: this man is not going anywhere. Andrés Manuel López Obrador had greatness thrust upon him today. This man is here to stay and emanates a sense that he is ready and able to conquer every last obstacle the rich and powerful throw in front of him."

[Itsthetruth]

1. Link To His Entire Speech?

If anyone can find a link to his entire speech please post it.

Thanks

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. Seconded.

Uh, can he run against Jeb in '08? Please?

[montanacowboy]

3. Viva Obrador!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. Indeed.

I'm just happy that I finally have a politician from Latin America that I can support. I have too many qualms about Chavez and his ilk to lend them my backing. However, this guy seems like he's on the ball, and he's done a lot for Mexico City. No great fan of Fox am I, either.

[eaglenetsupport]

4. Looks like another suicide coming up to me

Send body gaurds.......

[Itsthetruth]

5. Spanish Text Link?

If anyone can find the Spanish language text of his speech please post it here. Perhaps a DU'er could translate it into English for those who don't read the Spanish language.

Thanks

[Itsthetruth]

6. Photos Of Mexico City Rally In Support Of Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador looks at the front page of a Mexican newspaper during a news conference, April 6, 2005 and speaks at mass rally in Mexico City.



http://imagesn.picsearch.com/is?9753000467334

[Itsthetruth]

7. Having Trouble Posting Pictures

Will try again. Sorry.

[Itsthetruth]

8. Mass Rally

[Itsthetruth]

9. Rally Photo

Mexico City's Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks under a giant banner with the word 'Impeachment' in Spanish above him, during a massive rally in Mexico City April 7, 2005

[Itsthetruth]

10. Mexico Presidential Hopeful Resigned to Jail

Mexico Presidential Hopeful Resigned to Jail
By Alistair Bell

Reuters
April 8, 2005

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's most popular politician prepared on Friday to go to jail, after Congress ruled he should be tried for a minor crime that might end his presidential ambitions and create political chaos. Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who polls show is the clear favorite to replace President Vicente Fox at 2006 elections, sat at home waiting for the ax to fall.

"What happens now is that the attorney-general's office asks a judge for an arrest order and at that moment I go to jail," he told journalists outside his house.

The mayor, an austere former Indian rights activist, has called for peaceful "civil resistance" to overturn legal efforts by the two main parties in Congress to knock him out of the presidential race.

Fox's National Action Party and the main opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party ganged up against the mayor in the lower house of Congress on Thursday to strip his immunity from prosecution.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-8/27721.html

[Itsthetruth]

11. LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1381793