Lopez Obrador backers won't give up their fight
by Sharon Behn
Two months after Mexico's contested presidential election, thousands of mainly poor supporters of defeated candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador remain camped in the streets around the central Zocalo Square, supported and financed by a network of leftist organizations and city officials.
Far from disappearing after the country's electoral commission unanimously declared Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN) the winner last week, the activists are digging in for a fresh showdown with government forces this weekend.
"There are about five miles ... of tents, and almost every third small tent had someone in it," said George Grayson, an analyst at the College of William and Mary, who recently returned from the Mexican capital. "We are talking thousands of people."
Mr. Grayson, who has traveled to Mexico more than 75 times, said there were centers set up around the tent cities to provide the protesters with beans, rice, corn or tortillas.
The city, where Mr. Lopez Obrador served as mayor until this year, is providing portable bathrooms and showers, and legislators loyal to him are handing over their expense allowances to support the demonstrators, Mr. Grayson said.
Mr. Lopez Obrador, who still contends that the July 2 election was fixed, now plans to force a confrontation by declaring a parallel government on Saturday, the Mexican independence day.
He has also asked supporters to attend a huge "national convention" in the Zocalo Square on that day. However, his backers yesterday dropped a threat to interfere with the traditional annual military parade, which passes through the square.
The demonstrators, mostly made up of ideological hard-liners and committed activists, represent the PRD, labor unions and other groups that are frustrated with the outgoing government of President Vicente Fox or think the election was rigged.
Jorge Antulio Zuniga Romero, a spokesman for Mr. Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said the first 15 days of resistance had cost the party a half million pesos, or about $45,400.
"People don't pay for anything, everyone helps everyone. The party, of course, has given its own monetary resources," he said.
A Mexico City official, contacted by telephone, said most of the protesters "are very poor. They get money donations and support through various organizations, the parties and sympathetic organizations and civil groups."
The official described the protest as "civil resistance" and said that although the number of demonstrators has dwindled from a peak of 3 million, there were still thousands from across the country Mexico living in the streets near the square.
"There are tents in Zocalo and through the major streets, it is quite vast," the official said. He asked not to be named, because he was not authorized to speak directly to reporters.
He said the city was providing the people with the same services as they would a pilgrimage or a marathon.
Two months after Mexico's contested presidential election, thousands of mainly poor supporters of defeated candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador remain camped in the streets around the central Zocalo Square, supported and financed by a network of leftist organizations and city officials.
Far from disappearing after the country's electoral commission unanimously declared Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN) the winner last week, the activists are digging in for a fresh showdown with government forces this weekend.
"There are about five miles ... of tents, and almost every third small tent had someone in it," said George Grayson, an analyst at the College of William and Mary, who recently returned from the Mexican capital. "We are talking thousands of people."
Mr. Grayson, who has traveled to Mexico more than 75 times, said there were centers set up around the tent cities to provide the protesters with beans, rice, corn or tortillas.
The city, where Mr. Lopez Obrador served as mayor until this year, is providing portable bathrooms and showers, and legislators loyal to him are handing over their expense allowances to support the demonstrators, Mr. Grayson said.
Mr. Lopez Obrador, who still contends that the July 2 election was fixed, now plans to force a confrontation by declaring a parallel government on Saturday, the Mexican independence day.
He has also asked supporters to attend a huge "national convention" in the Zocalo Square on that day. However, his backers yesterday dropped a threat to interfere with the traditional annual military parade, which passes through the square.
The demonstrators, mostly made up of ideological hard-liners and committed activists, represent the PRD, labor unions and other groups that are frustrated with the outgoing government of President Vicente Fox or think the election was rigged.
Jorge Antulio Zuniga Romero, a spokesman for Mr. Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said the first 15 days of resistance had cost the party a half million pesos, or about $45,400.
"People don't pay for anything, everyone helps everyone. The party, of course, has given its own monetary resources," he said.
A Mexico City official, contacted by telephone, said most of the protesters "are very poor. They get money donations and support through various organizations, the parties and sympathetic organizations and civil groups."
The official described the protest as "civil resistance" and said that although the number of demonstrators has dwindled from a peak of 3 million, there were still thousands from across the country Mexico living in the streets near the square.
"There are tents in Zocalo and through the major streets, it is quite vast," the official said. He asked not to be named, because he was not authorized to speak directly to reporters.
He said the city was providing the people with the same services as they would a pilgrimage or a marathon.
posted by Alice at
Monday, September 11, 2006
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