Mexico’s poor call for parallel gov’t

The Mexican presidential elections of July 2006 have come and gone. Despite overwhelming evidence of considerable voter fraud on the part of the government, the candidate of the pro-U.S. conservative National Action Party, Felipe Calderón, was declared president on Sept. 5 by the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE)—the highest electoral court in the country.

TRIFE declared that the progressive candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was defeated.

Prior to the election, López Obrador had spearheaded a massive presidential campaign under the banner of the newly formed coalition “For the Good of All.” His election campaign sparked a mass movement.

Despite the proclaimed defeat of the progressive candidate, a clear blow to the movement, the people’s struggle in Mexico is far from over. In fact, capitalist political pundits continue to characterize the situation in Mexico as “at a turning point”—code words for “we are worried.”

All indications are that despite how the election turned out, the political movement in Mexico has been revived and is not waning. AMLO, as López Obrador is affectionately called, has not returned to the corridors of government buildings defeated. He has instead remained in the streets with the masses.

In fact, upon notice of the court’s decision last week, he said “To hell with the institutions” and refused to recognize Felipe Calderón as president.

Masses occupy Zócalo

On July 2, when it became evident that the elections had been tainted with voter fraud, López Obrador refused to deal with the issue within the confines of bourgeois parliamentarism. Instead, he embraced the momentum in the streets, took the issue outside the confines of capitalist law and called for mass mobilizations.

The Zócalo square in the heart of Mexico City, the capital, became López Obrador’s headquarters where his supporters camped out, met and rallied for justice.

The Zócalo is the site of countless impor tant and mass actions that have taken place since the days of the Aztecs. A cantina (bar) near the plaza advertises that it has a bullet hole from a shot fired by Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa.

Demonstrations called by AMLO grew to almost 2 million people at one point, signaling that the Mexican people are fed up with business as usual. The issue for the masses is not just the failure of the Mexican state to guarantee a fair election but the intense rate of exploitation in the country today.

Mexico faces one of its worst economic and social crises ever. Massive under-employment and unemployment have led to unprecedented waves of migration to the north. As a result of policies like NAFTA, U.S. imperialism is deeply imbedded in Mexico’s economic and political structures.

The movement now gripping Mexico is a result of this condition.

The mass takeover of the Zócalo that started in July, and continued for seven straight weeks, was so effective that the French Press Agency reported the occupation blocked major streets. The encampment was so successful that it disrupted business, at a cost of an estimated $709 million in revenue, according to a report issued by frenzied business association representatives.

Commerce was not the only thing disrupted. Traditionally, Sept. 16 is celebrated at the square by the capitalist government. This year, however, the reigning but outgoing president Vicente Fox of the PAN was forced to commemorate Sept. 16—Mexico’s independence day from Spain—miles away from Mexico City, as a result of the mass takeover at the Zócalo.

Earlier in September, legislators from the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) —an opposition party and supporter of López Obrador—were also able to disrupt the government in a significant show of power. PRD legislators blocked the podium where Fox was to give his final state-of-the-union address. He was forced to retreat and give his speech on television later that night.

Call for a parallel government

Despite the fact that the encampment at the Zócalo had been dismantled, the tensions have “no apparent reconciliation in sight.” (Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 18)

This is due to the movement’s new phase of the struggle.

López Obrador and the movement he is leading are clearly not going away. The encampment may be dismantled now, after seven weeks of what amounts to a massive sit-in, but the movement is not dismantled.

For over a month, after massive July and August demonstrations of millions of Mexicans, the encampment held steady.

Then, on Sept. 16, the encampment culminated in a massive National Democratic Convention.

Over 1 million people attended this convention, reported La Jornada. They filled not just the huge square but the streets surrounding it. They voted with a show of hands to declare López Obrador their president and called on him to form a parallel government. He is to name a cabinet and will be inaugurated Nov. 20, just days before Felipe Calderón’s inauguration on Dec. 1.

November 20 is the date Mexico commemorates its 1910 Revolution.

López Obrador said on Sept. 16 that his parallel government will work on proposals to rewrite Mexico’s constitution so that the right to “food, work, health care, education and housing” will be guaranteed. He also says he wants to overhaul corrupt public institutions. (ABC News, Sept. 17)

The coalition that was formed for the presidential election has agreed to continue their alliance through 2009. Their slogan is “For the Good of All, the Poor First.”

Reuters reported that delegates at the convention also voted to support a boycott against some of the biggest companies in Mexico, including Wal-Mart, Citigroup and Coca-Cola. A serious boycott of Coca-Cola in Mexico would be good news for Colombian workers, who face a death squad campaign that unionists there charge is protecting Coke’s interest. More Coca-Cola is sold in Mexico than in any other country in Latin America.

La Jornada reported on Sept. 17 that the convention also voted to initiate a “Plan of Civil and Peaceful Resistance” against the electoral fraud, promising to disrupt Calderón when he speaks. Three commissions were formed to carry out the work and plans were made for the convention’s second gathering on March 21, 2007.

Surely, the U.S. ruling class is worried about developments in Mexico. Has another Hugo Chávez emerged so close to the U.S. border? Will the conditions be ripe for the Mexican masses to have their second revolution, this time closer to the Cuban model? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, Mexico’s current capitalist government is considering breaking diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Why? Because Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said in Havana on Sept. 18 that his government did not recognize the Calderón victory because of the reported irregularities.

Surely Chávez is not losing sleep over the possibility of a break in relations. He has a good friend in Havana who is much more essential—a friend the Mexican people also hold close to their hearts.