Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal use, must be obtained from BARRIOZONA,
Call 480-983-1445 or e-mail admin@barriozona.com with your request
Mexico, Split by Culture and Economy
The two main forces shaping the presidential election are trends shaping a nation.
By Eduardo Barraza
BARRIOZONA
July 5, 2006
In an intense attempt to bring order to a turbulent presidential battle, Federal Electoral Institute’s officials in Mexico began
examining sealed packets of vote tallies collected from more than 130,000 polling places across the country. A meticulous
recount has the Mexican population lingering in an agonizing wait to find out who their next president will be.
According to a preliminary count, Felipe Calderon, the PAN’s candidate had a tiny lead over Andrés Manuel López Obrador,
the PRD’s candidate. Preliminary results were announced Monday and Tuesday. The last preliminary count showed
Calderón ahead of Lopez Obrador by 257,000 votes, or 0.64 percent of more than 38 million ballots.
But on Wednesday, July 5, a dramatic recount shifted the percentages in favor of Lopez Obrador, whose supporters
demonstrated at different areas of Mexico City, accusing the IFE’s process as a fraudulent deliberate act. Lopez Obrador’s
lead in the recount slowly shifted back again, as Calderon Hinojosa’s percentage kept rising, bringing both candidates
back to the historic tie that caused IFE’s officials to delay the announcement of whom the winner was on Sunday.
Mexican citizens have been living three days of tension over the outcome of the presidential election. The head of the
Federal Electoral Institute Luis Carlos Ugalde, stated on Wednesday that results are being tabulated, but that he is
uncertain how long the recount will take. The process slows down if the tally sheets, or the packages, appear to have been
tampered with or damaged. The packets then have to be opened, and a vote-by-vote count needs to be conducted.
A Historic Electoral Journey Tarnished by Suspicion of Fraud
While in the United States millions of people were celebrating the Fourth of July, in Mexico millions of Mexican citizens
were still unsure who their next president would be. Mexican citizens showed up to vote in record numbers, and in a
peaceful and admirable way. If you had voted during the July 2 presidential election in Mexico, you probably would have
cast your vote for either Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador –the Democratic Revolution Party’s candidate– or Felipe Calderon
Hinojosa –the National Action Party’s candidate.
According to preliminary counts, both contenders obtained a total of 27,651,720 votes between the two. Individually, they
literally split the 27 million plus votes with a difference so close, that the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) was not able to
announce a winner, and so near that sympathizers from both parties have drawn apart even more.
An atmosphere of growing discontent has surrounded Lopez Obrador’s supporters, who could not believe this candidate
was not declared the winner the same night of the elections. On midnight July 2, right after Luis Carlos Ugalde, the IFE
council’s director, announced there was not a clear winner, Lopez Obrador proclaimed himself to be the president-elect,
summoning his thousands of supporters to the Zocalo, Mexico’s City main plaza, to celebrate his assumed victory. Since
then, amid suspicions of an electoral fraud, their celebration has turned into sour restlessness. Lopez Obrador himself
rejected the preliminary vote count, and his party officials demanded a vote by vote count, accusing the IFE of
untrustworthiness.
Calderon Hinojosa, who also announced his victory on the night of the election, remained confident that the preliminary
count, and at least five more exit surveys were accurate, thus making him the president-elect. On Wednesday night,
Calderon remained confidently that the recount will confirm he is the next president-elect.
But the Pan’s candidate may not see his triumph come easy or soon, as the PRD’s contender prepares a likely legal fight
to officially dispute the presidential election outcome. If the preliminary count becomes the official result, and Calderon is
declared the winner, Mexico may see their peaceful, admirable, and historic democratic process, degenerate into a
disgruntled, even more divided and perhaps violent clash of philosophies, supporters, and parties.
The incredibly tight race between Lopez Obrador and Calderon Hinojosa symbolizes more than a historic presidential
electoral process. The tie represents Mexico’s population split between those who strive to see Mexico becoming a main
player in the global economy –a strong point in Calderon’s agenda, and those who see in Lopez Obrador a cultural icon,
and an advocate for the poor. Calderon represents the north; Obrador the south. The south of Mexico tilts toward Lopez
Obrador –the left candidate; the north leans for Calderon – the Harvard-educated technocrat. Thus, Mexico is split by
culture and economy, and between the north and the south.
Copyright © 2006 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
www.barriozona.com
|