750 Policemen Will Protect AMLO's Demonstrators Tomorrow in Mexico City (Translation)

eluniversal.com.mx ^ | July 7, 2006 | Claudia Bolaños ( translated by self )

[StJacques]

The stations of the Metro Collective System of Transport (STC), which come together in the downtown district, will not be closed but some interruption of circulation will become necessary.

Starting at 1:00 p.m. [Saturday] the police operation will get underway, in which 750 officers of the units of Citizen Protection will participate, as well as the Rescue Squadron and Emergency Medical Services (ERUM)¹, to protect the meeting which Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for in the Zócalo capital plaza this Saturday.

The monitoring authority will consider which interruptions of circulation are necessary; and in addition, all the stations of the Metro Collective System of Transport (STC) that come together in the downtown district will remain open, the Secretary of Public Security, Joel Ortega, informed [today].

The civil employee [Ortega] made a call to the organizers of this event, in which López Obrador will make a pronouncement² that the results of the July 2 elections were adverse to him, so that participants in the demonstration can arrive ahead of time and look for parking places outside the streets of the central quarter of the city.

Joel Ortega also provided information that showing up for this massive gathering will be PRD members and sympathizers of the Tabasqueño³ politician, but that he [Ortega] will do his job in his capacity as Chief of Police, to supervise the police operation.

With reference to immobilizing vehicular padlocks that are used in the Historical Center [of the city] to sanction those who park on the streets, [Ortega] said they will not be employed after the arrival of the event's organizers begins, in order to avoid any type of friction.

The secretary of Public Security reiterated that the work of the Preventive Police of the Federal District, during these types of demonstrations, will be institutional, "with a responsible police use of police power that will not lend itself to any manipulation."

The closing of the roads of the central district of the city will begin at 1:00 p.m., though the event is scheduled to begin until 5:00 p.m.

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Translator's Notes:

¹ERUM is the acronym for the Escuadrón de Rescate y Urgencias Médicas, the Mexico City ambulance and medical emergency service.

²There is a possible double entendre at use here in the original text, which I believe may be intentional on the part of El Universal. The actual word used in the original article is pronunciamiento which in this case translates as "pronouncement," but two alternative translations of the word are "coup d'état" and "uprising." Given that this demonstration is going to take place in the Zócalo capital plaza in Mexico City, which is where the presidential palace is located, I find it hard to believe that the use of the word is unintentional and may indicate a subtle conveyance on the part of El Universal that they see real danger in what may happen there Saturday. I also believe that concerns over what may happen in this demonstration are expressed in yesterday's statement of the Catholic bishops in Mexico pleading with López Obrador not to "ignite" Mexico in his challenge to the elections. See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1661661/posts for a translation of that news story.

³López Obrador is from the Mexican state of Tabasco on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I have noticed that El Universal, which is a Mexico City newspaper, is somewhat alone in frequently referring to López Obrador, who is currently the Governor of the Federal District (Mexico City), as a Tabasqueño, which seems to convey the impression that they see him as an outsider who took over their city.

[livius]

Thank you for all your work! And the careful footnoting!

I see the left is, as usual, ready to rumble and the police are going to be very careful not to give them a pretext for causing a disturbance. Well, a really, really bad disturbance, at any rate - I'm sure Obrador's followers will "disturb" as much as they think they can get away with.

I get really, really tired of the left sometimes. Make that all the time.

[StJacques]

Re your #20 on discrepancies. I have seen some of those reports and they revealed discrepancies in both directions. Aguascalientes is the instance the PRD people are screaming about, but elsewhere the opening of the electoral packages for a manual recount went in favor of the PAN.

[BuglerTex]

I agree with CedarDave. Magnetic. Keep up the good work. We need the truth to be out.

I will have an afternoon together next week with an old friend of mine who did some world class engineering in Mexico a while back, so I will get the straight scoop before he returns. Do yall have any specific questions? Stay secure, freep mail me if sensitive.

[StJacques]

"I get really, really tired of the left sometimes. Make that all the time."

The Left = A Hemorroid For Us All

[livius]

I read a bit about this in the Mexican press yesterday, and it appeared that the PRD was claiming that some votes were not legible, the markings were blurred, etc. In other words, it seems to me that they actually managed to get some disqualified or are claiming that they should be disqualified, going for a version of the old "hanging chad" technique that served the Dems so well.

[livius]

Kind of catchy - AHFUA!

[StJacques]

". . . Do yall have any specific questions? . . ."

You might ask him about what kind of police presence the national government can and does exercise in Mexico City and its surrounding areas. I ask this because is lesser-developed countries the question of "who controls the government" is usually answered by "who is in control in the capital city." My principal worry about Lopez Obrador and his followers is that they might just try to seize upon this maxim and force events to their own advantage or, at the very least as they are now doing, intimidate the organs of government to give them what they want out of a fear that they might just act to take matters into their own hands.

By the way, with a nic like "BuglerTex" I would just about have to make you out to be an Aggie. Am I right? I went to grad school at A&M, just to explain my interest.

[StJacques]

"Kind of catchy - AHFUA!"

Do you think I should copyright it? :)

[crazyhorse691]

I know others have thanked you for your time and efforts in translating and posting articles. So, I will be unoriginal and thank you also.Excellent job.

[Panzerlied]

Thanks for the great work. It's nice to know we have a reliable source of information on this important situation. Wish we could rely 1/100th as much on the MSM!

[freedumb2003]

Thanks StJ for your hard work.

This is more important than many NorteAmericanos know.

[StJacques]

". . . It's nice to know we have a reliable source of information on this important situation. Wish we could rely 1/100th as much on the MSM!"

Panzer you have really zeroed in on my motivation to put up these translations. I am sick to my stomach of watching the MSM present López Obrador as a "Mexican Liberal." He is much, much more dangerous than that and the potential he and his followers represent for possibly pulling Mexico apart is more real, and poses a far greater threat to our national interest, in my opinion, than the most Americans realize. This is why I have been going directly "to the source" in the Mexican and Latin American media to get the finer details of what is going on so that we can keep an informed eye on the situation.

[StJacques]

Just a heads up for all of you.

In about an hour and a half from now I'm going to post another translation of an article that El Universal just put up on their web site. The PRD are donning "tin hats" and are claiming "cybernetic manipulation" of the vote by the Federal Electoral Institute. I'll ping you when I do.

I've got to take a break and eat first.

[freedumb2003]

We appreciate your work.

There is no onus on you to kill yourself to translate these things. Just do it as your available time and energy and desire dictate.

I was thinking it will be a smaller turnout -- but we will see. I remember the student protest/riots of a year or so ago.

In Monterrey and Guadalajara they will be pretty upset if the Zacalo is occupied by professional protesters from the Unions.

[freedumb2003]

I am sick to my stomach of watching the MSM present López Obrador as a "Mexican Liberal." He is much, much more dangerous than that and the potential he and his followers represent for possibly pulling Mexico apart is more real

Obragore is an unapologetic Hugo Chavez worshiper. It is so difficult to explain to people up here what the implications of an Obragore regime would be.

The good news is that the PAN looks like it will control Congress. But a lot of mischief can be launched from Los Pinos.

[BuglerTex]

what kind of police presence the national government can and does exercise in Mexico City

Thank you, I shall. As I said in another thread, at the communist rally for Cardenas some years ago, an army elite unit marched out very smartly in a drill right on the Zocalo just before it started, displayed their presence, and went back into the building. The Corps of Cadets couldn't have looked any better. These guys were all tall and armed well. They definitely did not look like the various other police and guards around town.

[California Patriot]

Good to know, thanks. The LA Times made it sound like all this favored the PRD. Their (extensive) coverage today is outrageously biased in favor of the leftists, no surprise. Strangely, they have a very sensible editorial on the situation.

[La Enchiladita]

Thank you SOOO much, for the postings (which I still need to catch up on), the pings and the genius keyword plan!

[conservative in nyc]

Cybernetic manipulation? That's really pushing it. As far as I know, every ballot in the election was a real paper one, and the PRD (and other parties) have copies the tally sheets and can add everything up themselves.

What could the evil hackers hacked into?

Thanks for the translations.

[La Enchiladita]

Hola! Que tal?
Me llama Alberto Manuel ObraGore,
And --- hijole! --- I am SORE!