Mexico City Government Denies Requiring Employees to Attend AMLO Demonstration (Translation)

eluniversal.com.mx ^ | July 8, 2006 | eluniversal.com.mx ( translated by self )

[StJacques]

The Secretary of the Capital Government, Ricardo Ruiz, informs that the Comptroller's office will be open to answer any complaint or denunciation that it is [requiring government employees to attend].

The Secretary of the Federal District Government, Ricardo Ruiz, said that no employee of the GDF¹ will be obligated to participate in the meeting called for this Saturday en the Zócalo capital plaza, [which will be] headed by the candidate of the For the Good of All Coalition, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The capital functionary indicated that the Comptroller's office will be open to anyone complaining and denouncing [the Federal District Government], as reproduced in Formato 21².

Also, he trusts that the Informative Assembly³ will develop in a peaceful atmosphere and he reiterated that more than 750 policemen will guarantee the security of those attending the event.

It is worth noting that starting at 1:00 p.m. road closures will begin and by 5:00 p.m. it will not be possible to circulate in the historical center of the city.

On the other hand, Ruiz assured everyone that the capital government has not neglected basic needs for reasons of the electoral situation.

As far as the election trash⁴ goes, [Ruiz] referred to the fact that as of Saturday the capital government has spent nearly 12 million pesos on the removal of 180 tons of it from primary roads.

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Translator's Notes:

¹GDF is the acronym for the Gobierno de Distrito Federal (Federal District Government).

²Formato 21 is a well-known Mexico City radio news program.

³López Obrador and the PRD repeatedly refer to today's demonstration as an "Informative Assembly."

⁴Evidently the large crowds present in Mexico City over the past week for the election and the protests which have attended both the preliminary and certified vote counts have generated an enormous amount of trash in the streets. This may not be an insignificant news item, given that Mexico City is a PRD bastion and the crowds were overwhelmingly out in support of AMLO, since it suggests, by virtue of the 180 tons figure Ruiz cites, that the crowds may already have shown a lack of discipline and restraint, which may not bode well for today's demonstration.

[StJacques]

This is the second translated article I am posting in two days that addresses the "blurring of the lines of authority" between the Federal District government and the national authority in Mexico City, one of the things that creates some real worries for me, given that I have genuine fears about what will happen if that crowd gets out of control. For those of you who may not know it, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the Governor of the Federal District (Mexico City) and he controls the police and other organs of local government there. Yesterday I posted a translation of an article describing how the local police in Mexico City were being assigned "to protect" the demonstrators, you can see that thread at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1662007/posts, and I pointed out that the police chief went to some pains to reassure everyone that they would not be "manipulated," a statement which may or may not indicate the truth of what their role will be, given that we do not know what AMLO's ultimate intentions are or what kind of pressure he may be exerting in his capacity as Governor of the DF to create the appearance of "official sanction" for his effort to overturn the election results. The information in the above article seems to provide additional evidence that local government officials are being subjected to pressure to support AMLO's challenge to the elections and that truly does worry me. I'm not prepared to argue that AMLO is plotting a coup d'état, but I do see genuine intimidation of the organs of national authority in Mexico City in his actions. And intimidation should not be a part of any democratic process.

I also have some information from the El Universal web site which shows that AMLO and the PRD are bringing in supporters to Mexico City from the far reaches of the country. Last night I saw a briefly posted news notice, which I can no longer find, which said that tens of thousands of AMLO supporters were coming from Tabasco, Veracruz, and Tlaxcala, especially those organized by "red juventil" (red youth). Today's news wire on El Universal is filled with snippets of information about PRD supporters coming in from all over the country. AMLO and his people are staking everything on this demonstration.

[StJacques]

A Mexican post-election ping for you all.

I'm going to continue to watch what goes down today and I should be posting something later tonight. I suggest we all keep our fingers crossed about how this demonstration goes down.

And for any of you who may not have shown up yesterday or who perhaps have missed it, I have gone back to all of the translated article threads I have posted since the Mexican election and inserted a unique keyword to permit you to retrieve them as a group using the forum's "keyword" search option.

The keyword is -- STJTRANSLATION

[conservative in nyc]

AMLO and his people are staking everything on this demonstration.

Hopefully, ObraGore realizes that it's not in his long-term political interests for any protest to get violent. EU election monitors said they saw no irregularities in the final count, according to the AP. ObraGore, on the other hand, claimed to the foreign press that Calderon's PAN "learned from the fraudulent practices of the PRI" and "exceeded them".

[BunnySlippers]

Very interesting ... sounds familiar.

Fox just did a report from the Zocolo in Mexico City and it was filling up. Looks like a party atmosphere right now but can't predict how this will play out.

[BunnySlippers]

OBRADOR SUPPORTERS

CALDERON SUPPORTERS

[anymouse]

Mexi-ping

[NinoFan]

Such a huge difference. The first group looks like a gang. The second group looks like an intelligent bunch of people.

[BunnySlippers]

I saved them to my computer the night of the election. Anyone who has been to Mexico City knows that both groups exist ... I know which one I identify with most. and which I would prefer to live next to.

BTW, the first photo of the Obrador supporters is the one in the Zocolo the night of the election.

The second on of the Calderon supporters is at PAN election headquarters looking at returns.


.

[livius]

Hmmm. Maybe you won't get to eat that potato salad after all...

I was just reading the El Universal site and I saw an article dated around 2:00 pm, stating that he had proclaimed to the foreign press that the elections were fraudulent and that he was going to have recourse to the courts - and the streets.

[sockmonkey]

Thank you so much for translating and posting all the articles on the Mexican Election. It sure beats trying to understand what they're saying on Galavision.

And you certainly have given us more in depth reporting than any of the news outlets here with your insights into the situation there.

[ichabod1]

Some might say that the first photo is of the oppressed people of color and the second is of the racist white european Mexicans.

I wonder if there is live coverage anywhere to be seen. This should be interesting -- possibly historic.

[StJacques]

Thank you for the compliments sockmonkey.

I got really disgusted over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday listening to the MSM tell us that Lopez Obrador was a "Mexican Liberal." Uggghhhhhh!

If I had to put odds on whether the situation will get out of control today, I would say they are 75% to stay in control. But that means I rate the possibility things will come unraveled at 25%, which does not make me comfortable at all. And in the event that the long-term consequences of the stage Lopez Obrador is setting today portend for a guarantee of widespread conflict in Mexico, it's not going to sneak up on us. The intimidation of the national authority is already present in Lopez Obrador's actions, that's enough to keep an eye on him.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is a real danger to stability on our southern border. Hugo Chavez doesn't even come close to presenting us with the kind of threat Lopez Obrador represents.

[La Enchiladita]

I wonder if they still have El Mercado Sabado in San Angel. That's where I would be today: at the other end of Avenida Reforma!

[livius]

Hugo Chavez doesn't even come close to presenting us with the kind of threat Lopez Obrador represents.

It's interesting that you would say that. Is it because Chavez is such a buffoon, or just because he's further away?

Chavez does have international connections that Obrador seems to lack, but I suppose that as soon as Obrador took power in Mexico, all the usual suspects - Cuba, Iran, NK, etc. - would be flocking to meet him. Definitely not a good situation for us.

[La Enchiladita]

Monitors say no irregularities in Mexico poll

08 July 2006 10:15

Election monitors from the European Union say they found no irregularities in last Mexico's disputed presidential election.

The EU said its 80 monitors nationwide did not witness any wrongdoing.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to launch protests after the close victory of his rival Felipe Calderon.

However, Mr Calderon has already begun to spell out his policies and has taken congratulatory calls from leaders, including US President George W Bush.

The final tally from the election showed that just a few thousand votes separated the two candidates.

[StJacques]

There are several reasons why I say that Lopez Obrador is more dangerous when compared to Chavez.

Yes; Chavez is something of a buffoon, while Lopez Obrador is nothing of the sort. Though I question Lopez Obrador's grasp of the reality of the way things work in the world, something I see in all Leftists, the man is no idiot. He is politically savvy in the sense of recognizing opportunity, he understands the way power works, he has a much more broadly-based political following in terms of outright numbers than Chavez's core group of supporters -- Mexico is a populous country, and in my opinion he has more ambitious goals for change than Chavez. Lopez Obrador will not act so irresponsibly in his rhetoric as does Chavez, but then almost no one short of the Iranian leadership can meet that test, so that's not particularly significant. And yes; the fact that Mexico sits right on the U.S.'s southern border is a matter of real significance both in the nearness of the danger Lopez Obrador's victory could represent -- I think it could impel another 15 million to migrate north in five years -- and in the unique opportunities it will present to Obrador to cast himself in the role of the courageous reformer who stands up to the Gringo Giant to his north, which could resonate throughout Latin America, much to our disadvantage elsewhere. And finally, Mexico is our second biggest supplier of oil, and that's about all I need to say on that.

[livius]

Proximity is a serious problem. While some people have said that Obrador has been fairly inoffensive as mayor of Mexico City, he obviously gets adherents by stirring up passions and resentments, and this would certainly be bad on a national scale. In addition, while he declares that he has never spoken to Chavez, the Mexican government actually expelled a number of Chavistas who were working on his behalf in southern Mexico. So regardless of what Obrador does himself, he would clearly be Chavez' direct route to the US. Another thing to consider.

[texastoo]

bttt

[Shuttle Shucker]

Friends:
I'm afraid at this point that the most efficient way to prompt the Leftist labor unions posing as mere political activists to finally back down and let Felipe win is to renew a push for further construction of a wall at our border, and deportation of illegals. Then Mexico will finally crack down on Mexicans' "right" to block automobile traffic (even on freeways) during protests. That's the mechanism by which the unionized tail has wagged the national dog all this time, getting all sorts of union privileges as a result. These unions' opponents (basically Felipe Calderon's pro-entrepreneurial, reform-oriented National Action Party) will subsequently be empowered and emboldened to finally stamp out such "free speech" which is still widely protected down there. Once the unions can't disrupt nearly as effectively, they'll have to win popular opinion by the force of reason instead of the force of thugs. And that they cannot do, because Mexicans fear the ever-growing competitiveness of CHINA. Take it from someone who lived down there for over half a decade and somehow managed to survive literally dozens of physical attacks, and some deportation attempts, in order to tell about it.