Whither Mexico...?

a good chunk of my heart lies in mexico's red soil... alternet offers some insight...

In a hyperbolic editorial on July 30 -- one that bordered on the ridiculous -- the Washington Post accused López Obrador, known as AMLO to his supporters, of taking "a lesson from Joseph Stalin" and launching an "anti-democracy campaign" by demanding a manual recount and urging his supporters to take to the streets in peaceful protests. Calling the vote "a success story and a model for other nations," the editors concluded that it's "difficult to overstate the irresponsibility of Mr. López Obrador's actions." [i posted on this eye-popping outrage several days ago...]

Days after the election, the New York Times irresponsibly declared candidate Calderón the winner, even though no victor had been declared under Mexican law, and just this week, in an article about López Obrador's protests, the Times reported that López Obrador had "escalated his campaign to undo official results."

But there are no "official" results and probably won't be until after Sept. 1. Under Mexican law, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) is charged with running the elections and counting the vote. But only the country's Election Tribunal, known by its Mexican nickname as the "TRIFE," has the power to declare a victor. ... They have until Sept. 6 to rule on the election.

meanwhile, massive protests continue with hardly a nod from u.s. media...

Street protests led by the leftist candidate in Mexico's presidential election plunged the capital into chaos for a second day on Tuesday, raising fears of a long and increasingly nasty fight over vote fraud claims.

The mass demonstrations called by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to protest alleged vote-rigging in his close defeat by conservative rival Felipe Calderon have turned Mexico City's swanky business district into a sprawling campsite.

On Tuesday evening the leftist asked supporters to remain peaceful but keep the protest camps going.

"We are not here because we want to be, it's because we need to be, because we want there to be democracy," he said in the Zocalo square, where hundreds were camped out.

"I ask you to keep going. We've barely been going two days, I ask you to make the effort, the sacrifice to be in the camps day and night."

mexico's poor are not going to go quietly into that good night...

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