Mexican Left Creates 'Parallel Gov't'
by Lisa J. Adams
MEXICO CITY
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador elected him the leader Saturday of a ``parallel government'' opposed to President-elect Felipe Calderon's administration.
The symbolic ``vote'' - a show of hands in the packed Zocalo plaza - was the latest development in Mexico's nearly three month electoral dispute. Lopez Obrador claims fraud and illegal government spending were responsible for Calderon's victory by less than 234,000 votes in the July 2 election, and he has vowed to be the new leader's biggest opponent.
It was unclear what the ``parallel government,'' complete with its own Cabinet, would entail.
Lopez Obrador supporters said they would travel the country and set up committees to spread Lopez Obrador's message of helping the nation's millions of poor and opposing the elite.
They also said they would continue protests against the government.
``This is the firm and honorable response to those who have converted our political institutions into a grotesque farce,'' Lopez Obrador said.
Lopez Obrador will be ``sworn in'' to his new post on Nov. 20. Calderon will be inaugurated on Dec. 1.
``They won't move forward. Today in our country there exists the collective will to stop them,'' Lopez Obrador said.
Convention delegates also agreed to boycott major national and international companies that they say supported Calderon's campaign, and agreed to support the formation of a ``Progressive Front'' to replace the former coalition of leftist parties that backed Lopez Obrador in the national election.
Lopez Obrador said the Front's principal objective would be to fight what he called a large right-wing bloc formed by Calderon's conservative National Action Party and the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.
``Two groups will exist in the country: The rightists and the progressives,'' he said.
Lopez Obrador retains a strong following despite a Federal Electoral Tribunal ruling this month that rejected most of his fraud allegations and awarded the presidency to Calderon.
Organizers claimed 1.2 million packed the Zocalo and surrounding streets.
``This convention is the most palpable proof of how the people of Mexico feel,'' said Antonio Romano Hernandez, a 56-year-old baker from Mexico City.
MEXICO CITY
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador elected him the leader Saturday of a ``parallel government'' opposed to President-elect Felipe Calderon's administration.
The symbolic ``vote'' - a show of hands in the packed Zocalo plaza - was the latest development in Mexico's nearly three month electoral dispute. Lopez Obrador claims fraud and illegal government spending were responsible for Calderon's victory by less than 234,000 votes in the July 2 election, and he has vowed to be the new leader's biggest opponent.
It was unclear what the ``parallel government,'' complete with its own Cabinet, would entail.
Lopez Obrador supporters said they would travel the country and set up committees to spread Lopez Obrador's message of helping the nation's millions of poor and opposing the elite.
They also said they would continue protests against the government.
``This is the firm and honorable response to those who have converted our political institutions into a grotesque farce,'' Lopez Obrador said.
Lopez Obrador will be ``sworn in'' to his new post on Nov. 20. Calderon will be inaugurated on Dec. 1.
``They won't move forward. Today in our country there exists the collective will to stop them,'' Lopez Obrador said.
Convention delegates also agreed to boycott major national and international companies that they say supported Calderon's campaign, and agreed to support the formation of a ``Progressive Front'' to replace the former coalition of leftist parties that backed Lopez Obrador in the national election.
Lopez Obrador said the Front's principal objective would be to fight what he called a large right-wing bloc formed by Calderon's conservative National Action Party and the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.
``Two groups will exist in the country: The rightists and the progressives,'' he said.
Lopez Obrador retains a strong following despite a Federal Electoral Tribunal ruling this month that rejected most of his fraud allegations and awarded the presidency to Calderon.
Organizers claimed 1.2 million packed the Zocalo and surrounding streets.
``This convention is the most palpable proof of how the people of Mexico feel,'' said Antonio Romano Hernandez, a 56-year-old baker from Mexico City.
posted by Alice at
Saturday, September 16, 2006
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