Friday, August 11, 2006
Leftists protest at Mexico tax office, TV station
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Leftists protest at Mexico tax office, TV station
Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:54 PM ET
Link:http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=winterOlympics&storyID=2006-08-11T215347Z_01_N28358335_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEXICO-ELECTION.xml
By Frank Jack Daniel
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Leftist demonstrators claiming electoral fraud blocked access to Mexico's main tax office on Friday, hitting the government in the pocket for backing Felipe Calderon, the winner of the election.
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 for several hours.
Leftists have targeted banks and highway toll booths this week to demand a total recount of the election, narrowly won by conservative ruling party candidate Calderon.
Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, 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.
Calderon, who believes a court will soon name him president, called for an end to the marches.
"Mexico will not advance with handouts, with tricks or with tension," he told a meeting of factory owners. "Mexico will advance with the work of all Mexicans. Let's get to work."
Several hundred Lopez Obrador followers protested outside 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 9 percent of polling stations, rather than the full recount sought by Lopez Obrador.
The leftist called on foreigners to pressure the court to order a recount of all 40 million or so votes.
'GANDHI, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'
"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," Lopez Obrador said in an editorial in Friday's The New York Times.
He said his street protests, which have paralyzed the city center for almost two weeks, were in the 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," he wrote.
Electoral officials are due to finish the partial recount by the weekend.
The PRD representative to Mexico's electoral institute, Horacio Duarte, said votes had been tallied again at just under half of the nearly 12,000 polling stations involved in the recount. Most polling stations revised had inconsistencies, he said.
"Any change in these nearly 12,000 polling stations, even if it seems minimal, is a variation that can have an important impact," he said.
An earthquake of 6.0 magnitude that rattled Mexico City on Friday morning did not deter the protesters, many of whom have camped out in the vast Zocalo square in a giant sit-in.
"They are not going to get rid of us with an earthquake. The ones who are suffering a political quake are the PAN, the government and Felipe Calderon," Lopez Obrador's campaign manager Jesus Ortega said.
Financial markets have not been badly hit by the demonstrations.
The peso rose 0.75 percent, buoyed by news that Mexico will prepay $9 billion of debt with international lenders. Shares were up 1.13 percent.
Leftists protest at Mexico tax office, TV station
Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:54 PM ET
Link:http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=winterOlympics&storyID=2006-08-11T215347Z_01_N28358335_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEXICO-ELECTION.xml
By Frank Jack Daniel
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Leftist demonstrators claiming electoral fraud blocked access to Mexico's main tax office on Friday, hitting the government in the pocket for backing Felipe Calderon, the winner of the election.
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 for several hours.
Leftists have targeted banks and highway toll booths this week to demand a total recount of the election, narrowly won by conservative ruling party candidate Calderon.
Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, 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.
Calderon, who believes a court will soon name him president, called for an end to the marches.
"Mexico will not advance with handouts, with tricks or with tension," he told a meeting of factory owners. "Mexico will advance with the work of all Mexicans. Let's get to work."
Several hundred Lopez Obrador followers protested outside 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 9 percent of polling stations, rather than the full recount sought by Lopez Obrador.
The leftist called on foreigners to pressure the court to order a recount of all 40 million or so votes.
'GANDHI, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'
"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," Lopez Obrador said in an editorial in Friday's The New York Times.
He said his street protests, which have paralyzed the city center for almost two weeks, were in the 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," he wrote.
Electoral officials are due to finish the partial recount by the weekend.
The PRD representative to Mexico's electoral institute, Horacio Duarte, said votes had been tallied again at just under half of the nearly 12,000 polling stations involved in the recount. Most polling stations revised had inconsistencies, he said.
"Any change in these nearly 12,000 polling stations, even if it seems minimal, is a variation that can have an important impact," he said.
An earthquake of 6.0 magnitude that rattled Mexico City on Friday morning did not deter the protesters, many of whom have camped out in the vast Zocalo square in a giant sit-in.
"They are not going to get rid of us with an earthquake. The ones who are suffering a political quake are the PAN, the government and Felipe Calderon," Lopez Obrador's campaign manager Jesus Ortega said.
Financial markets have not been badly hit by the demonstrations.
The peso rose 0.75 percent, buoyed by news that Mexico will prepay $9 billion of debt with international lenders. Shares were up 1.13 percent.
# posted by Nancy T. @ 11:36 PM 
