Mexico's Two Presidents

[icymist]

On Sept. 16, over one million people raised their hands in a vote to recognize center-left leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador as the "legitimate president" of Mexico. Gathered in Mexico City's historic center, the delegates to the National Democratic Convention (N.D.C.) agreed to inaugurate their president on Nov. 21 — nine days before the inauguration of the officially recognized candidate, Felipe Calderón. This act of civil resistance ushered in a new stage in an electoral conflict that has developed into an all-out battle for the country's future.

The N.D.C. constituted an unprecedented event in Mexico's tumultuous sequence of starts and stalls toward democracy. No matter what the outcome, the convention will go down in history as a defining moment in the nation's political development. What it will define, however, is still anybody's guess.

The conservative camp that supports the presidency of Calderón, who has been officially certified by electoral institutions and backed by mainstream media conglomerates, big business, and much of the U.S. press, has portrayed the convention as the last-gasp attempt of a losing candidate to attain power.

But try telling that to any of the delegates straining to hear the proceedings over the rain and crowd noise on Mexico's Independence Day. For them, "their" president not only deserves office by right of having won elections stolen through fraud, but also because he represents their interests. Running on a pro-poor platform, Obrador has gained the confidence of millions of Mexicans. The poor form the backbone of a movement that has rapidly evolved into a widespread rejection of the status quo.

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