Leftists protest at Mexico tax office and TV station

by Frank Jack Daniel
MEXICO CITY
Leftist demonstrators claiming electoral fraud blocked access to Mexico's main tax office on Friday, hitting the government in the pocket for backing conservative presidential vote winner Felipe Calderon.

Several thousand protesters waving banners in support of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador surrounded the building, run by the Finance Ministry, and prevented employees from entering.

Leftists have targeted banks and highway toll booths this week in protests to demand a total recount of the election, narrowly won by pro-business candidate Calderon.

Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution said the ministry was in league with business groups that financed Calderon's campaign.

"The Finance Ministry is one of the key points in the financing of the electoral fraud," said Marti Batres, head of the party in the capital.

Several hundred Lopez Obrador followers protested outside the news studios of Televisa network, and pasted a poster reading "No To Lies" over an entrance.

Protests were stepped up after a court last weekend ordered a recount of votes from only 9 percent of polling stations, rather than the full recount sought by Lopez Obrador.

A former mayor of Mexico City, Lopez Obrador called on foreigners on Friday to pressure the court to order a recount of all 40 million or so votes.

"GANDHI, LUTHER KING"

"We need the goodwill and support of those in the international community with a personal, philosophical or commercial interest in Mexico to encourage it to do the right thing and allow a full recount," he said in an editorial article in The New York Times.

He said his street protests, which have paralyzed the city center for almost two weeks, were part of a long tradition of peaceful civil resistance.

"In the spirit of Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we seek to make our voices heard. We lack millions for advertising to make our case," the leftist wrote.
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