The Erosion of Democracy

It may seem unimportant to many in the West, but the election in Mexico has very serious implications for the everyone given the current climate. While Bush announces to the world that he wishes to spread democracy in place of tyranny, the reality of the intentions of the neo-cons is there for all to see. The American government has become increasingly concerned in recent years by the rise of populist movements south of the border. Concerned, because the people of South America are finding their own voice after years of repression by successive US presidents. This is unacceptable to a government eager to protect itself from a wave of people power. Perhaps this explains the lack of coverage in the Western media.

López Obrador has been staging a protest in Mexico's Zocalo square in reaction to the fraud committed in the recent election. Obrador has declared that he will not accept the results of the election and has called for a mass rally of his supporters in Mexico's main square on the day of the traditional military rally (16th September). Narco News has been following events in Mexico very closely, and has made the following conclusions from the recounts:

• In 3,074 precincts (29 percent of those recounted), 45,890 illegal votes, above the number of voters who cast ballots in each polling place, were found stuffed inside the ballot boxes (an average of 15 for each of these precincts, primarily in strongholds of the National Action Party, known as the PAN, of President Vicente Fox and his candidate, Felipe Calderón).
  

• In 4,368 precincts (41 percent of those recounted), 80,392 ballots of citizens who did vote are missing (an average of 18 votes in each of these precincts).
  

• Together, these 7,442 precincts contain about 70 percent of the ballots recounted. The total amount of ballots either stolen or forged adds up to 126,282 votes altered.
  

• If the recount results of these 10,679 precincts (8.2 percent of the nation’s 130,000 polling places) are projected nationwide, it would mean that more than 1.5 million votes were either stolen or stuffed in an election that the first official count claimed was won by Calderon by only 243,000 votes.
  

• Among the findings of this very limited partial recount are that in 3,079 precincts where the PAN party is strong and where, in many cases, the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) of candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not count with election night poll watchers, one or more of three things occurred: Either the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE, in its Spanish initials) illegally provided more ballots than there are voters in those precincts, or the PAN party stole those extra ballots, or ballots were forged.

There is plenty of evidence that the International Republican Institute, part of Bush's party apparatus, has had some involvement in the election. In fact, the business community in the US is clearly rattled by the latest developments and has called on President Fox to utilise the military to control the situation. When the business community is rattled by such events, you can be sure that Bush will also be pushing Fox to take military action rather than promote democracy by ordering a full recount of the votes cast.

Despite attention being focused by the media on the Middle East, fraudulant elections are persisting much closer to home. There is clearly a massive disparity between the result and the actual votes that were cast. Of course, this should come as no surprise to those who are aware of the history of South America. It has been a history of consistant repression by the American government in order to ensure that the people do not control the power, big business does. As long as the US is controlled by the interests of the wealthy, it will continue to ensure that it prevents any surge in popular power in the south by whatever means necessary. It is for this reason that we must all support the efforts of Obrador to seek recounts throughout Mexico.

Further links: Hoy PG (Mexican website with a report by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research), Amnesty (for reports on human rights abuses by the state) and Narco News. See below for a clip on the protests in Mexico: