Electoral Crisis in Mexico (big suprise)
- Thread starter 2-0-Sixx
- Start date
huh, this is tight...
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Women Seize TV Station in Oaxaca, Mexico
About 500 women banging spoons against pots and pans seized a state- run television station and broadcast a homemade video Wednesday that showed police kicking protesters out of Oaxaca's main square last month.
The women took control of Oaxaca's Channel 9 station Tuesday and held employees for about six hours before releasing them. It was unclear how long the siege would last and police were nowhere to be seen near the station Wednesday.
The standoff is the latest by demonstrators who accuse Gov. Ulises Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election victory and violently repressing opposition groups.
Station director Mercedes Rojas said the state has filed a criminal complaint with the federal attorney general's office, noting that the station has about $54.5 million worth of equipment inside and that the protesters had threatened the 60 employees with violence while holding them captive.
Federal officials have not commented on the standoff.
Tensions have been on the rise since June, when state police attacked a demonstration of striking teachers occupying the historic central plaza and demanding a wage increase.
Since then, thousands of teachers, unionists and leftists have camped out in the plaza, spray-painting buildings with revolutionary slogans, smashing hotel windows and erecting makeshift barricades. Most businesses remain closed.
The unrest has paralyzed one of Mexico's top cultural attractions, where visitors to the southern city normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes. Officials recently canceled a prominent cultural festival because of fears that violence could injure tourists and residents.
Tourism is down 75 percent, costing the city more than $45 million, according to the Mexican Employers Federation. Business leaders have asked the federal government to intervene, but aides to President Vicente Fox have said the problem must be resolved at the state level.
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Women Seize TV Station in Oaxaca, Mexico
About 500 women banging spoons against pots and pans seized a state- run television station and broadcast a homemade video Wednesday that showed police kicking protesters out of Oaxaca's main square last month.
The women took control of Oaxaca's Channel 9 station Tuesday and held employees for about six hours before releasing them. It was unclear how long the siege would last and police were nowhere to be seen near the station Wednesday.
The standoff is the latest by demonstrators who accuse Gov. Ulises Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election victory and violently repressing opposition groups.
Station director Mercedes Rojas said the state has filed a criminal complaint with the federal attorney general's office, noting that the station has about $54.5 million worth of equipment inside and that the protesters had threatened the 60 employees with violence while holding them captive.
Federal officials have not commented on the standoff.
Tensions have been on the rise since June, when state police attacked a demonstration of striking teachers occupying the historic central plaza and demanding a wage increase.
Since then, thousands of teachers, unionists and leftists have camped out in the plaza, spray-painting buildings with revolutionary slogans, smashing hotel windows and erecting makeshift barricades. Most businesses remain closed.
The unrest has paralyzed one of Mexico's top cultural attractions, where visitors to the southern city normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes. Officials recently canceled a prominent cultural festival because of fears that violence could injure tourists and residents.
Tourism is down 75 percent, costing the city more than $45 million, according to the Mexican Employers Federation. Business leaders have asked the federal government to intervene, but aides to President Vicente Fox have said the problem must be resolved at the state level.
Mexico's Stock Exchange Blockaded by Lopez Obrador Protesters
The electoral court ``had better order a vote by vote recount or else we plan to paralyze the country, block the northern border, take airports and highways,'' said Amado Zepeda
Protesters, amid light rain, waved flags and chanted ``ballot by ballot’’ as they obstructed the entrance to the exchange and to an adjacent building where institutions including Bank of America Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. have offices. All trading at the Mexican stock exchange is electronic and demonstrations in the past haven’t affected its operations.
opez Obrador is stepping up demonstrations as the electoral tribunal prepares to rule on his request for a full review of the vote, which he says was marred by fraud. His supporters have blocked about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of Mexico City’s main avenue since July 30. The blockade turned the eight-lane Reforma boulevard into a tent city, disrupting traffic and causing shops and hotels in the area to lose about $23 million a day.
Full Article
The electoral court ``had better order a vote by vote recount or else we plan to paralyze the country, block the northern border, take airports and highways,'' said Amado Zepeda
Protesters, amid light rain, waved flags and chanted ``ballot by ballot’’ as they obstructed the entrance to the exchange and to an adjacent building where institutions including Bank of America Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. have offices. All trading at the Mexican stock exchange is electronic and demonstrations in the past haven’t affected its operations.
opez Obrador is stepping up demonstrations as the electoral tribunal prepares to rule on his request for a full review of the vote, which he says was marred by fraud. His supporters have blocked about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of Mexico City’s main avenue since July 30. The blockade turned the eight-lane Reforma boulevard into a tent city, disrupting traffic and causing shops and hotels in the area to lose about $23 million a day.
Full Article
8.8.06
Supporters of presidential candidate Obrador took over tollbooths on four Mexican federal highways, part of protests to demand a full recount of last month's vote.
Protesters occupied tollbooths on roads that link Mexico City to Cuernavaca, Queretaro, Toluca and Pachuca, according to images broadcast by Grupo Televisa SA. They let drivers pass through free of charge and traffic was flowing normally.
[...]
The tollbooth takeover may foretell the kind of actions Lopez Obrador would seek to carry out against Calderon's administration should the court uphold the vote count, said Christopher Garman, director for Latin America at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group in New York.
``He'll try to use these kind of methods to pressure the Calderon administration and make life more difficult for his government,'' Garman said in a telephone interview. ``Things are going to get worse before they get better over the short run.''
[...]
Protesters have blocked 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of the city's main avenue since July 30, which turned the eight-lane boulevard into a tent city. Hotels and businesses in the area are losing about $23 million a day, according to the local chamber of commerce.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=acsT0.BY9SRU&refer=latin_america
Supporters of presidential candidate Obrador took over tollbooths on four Mexican federal highways, part of protests to demand a full recount of last month's vote.
Protesters occupied tollbooths on roads that link Mexico City to Cuernavaca, Queretaro, Toluca and Pachuca, according to images broadcast by Grupo Televisa SA. They let drivers pass through free of charge and traffic was flowing normally.
[...]
The tollbooth takeover may foretell the kind of actions Lopez Obrador would seek to carry out against Calderon's administration should the court uphold the vote count, said Christopher Garman, director for Latin America at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group in New York.
``He'll try to use these kind of methods to pressure the Calderon administration and make life more difficult for his government,'' Garman said in a telephone interview. ``Things are going to get worse before they get better over the short run.''
[...]
Protesters have blocked 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of the city's main avenue since July 30, which turned the eight-lane boulevard into a tent city. Hotels and businesses in the area are losing about $23 million a day, according to the local chamber of commerce.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=acsT0.BY9SRU&refer=latin_america
Yep, they should.
This should be interesting. If there is one thing that will piss them off is fucking with the banks...
Mexico Leftists Shut Foreign Banks In Protest
Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:34:21 -0700
By Lorraine Orlandi
Republished from Infoshop News
All but one of Mexico's major banks are in the hands of foreign companies and the industry's sell-off has been a symbol of the free market reforms in Mexico disliked by the Left.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Protesters blocked access to foreign banks in Mexico on Wednesday to protest what they said was election fraud while judges and troops oversaw a partial recount that could decide last month’s presidential vot
Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador surrounded main offices in Mexico City of the U.S.-based Citigroup’s Mexican unit Banamex, Bancomer bank owned by Spain’s BBVA and the British giant HSBC. They closed them down for several hours, unfurling banners and chanting slogans.
[...]
[Lopez Obrador] says many votes for him went untallied while others were stolen from ballot boxes, and is demanding a recount of all 41 million votes.
[...]
Lopez Obrador’s followers have crippled downtown Mexico City for the past 10 days by setting up tents on the main Reforma boulevard running through the business district.
All but one of Mexico's major banks are in the hands of foreign companies and the industry's sell-off has been a symbol of the free market reforms in Mexico disliked by the left.
"It's them who are screwing the nation!" protesters chanted outside the HSBC building, a shiny new skyscraper on Reforma, as dozens of riot police stood guard.
"We're defending the homeland, not the presidency. The homeland is in danger," said Eugenia Rodriguez, 63, a retired teacher from rural San Luis Potosi state.
"Banamex is really Citigroup, a foreign bank that ransacks the country," said Gerardo Fernandez, spokesman for the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD.
This should be interesting. If there is one thing that will piss them off is fucking with the banks...
Mexico Leftists Shut Foreign Banks In Protest
Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:34:21 -0700
By Lorraine Orlandi
Republished from Infoshop News
All but one of Mexico's major banks are in the hands of foreign companies and the industry's sell-off has been a symbol of the free market reforms in Mexico disliked by the Left.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Protesters blocked access to foreign banks in Mexico on Wednesday to protest what they said was election fraud while judges and troops oversaw a partial recount that could decide last month’s presidential vot
Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador surrounded main offices in Mexico City of the U.S.-based Citigroup’s Mexican unit Banamex, Bancomer bank owned by Spain’s BBVA and the British giant HSBC. They closed them down for several hours, unfurling banners and chanting slogans.
[...]
[Lopez Obrador] says many votes for him went untallied while others were stolen from ballot boxes, and is demanding a recount of all 41 million votes.
[...]
Lopez Obrador’s followers have crippled downtown Mexico City for the past 10 days by setting up tents on the main Reforma boulevard running through the business district.
All but one of Mexico's major banks are in the hands of foreign companies and the industry's sell-off has been a symbol of the free market reforms in Mexico disliked by the left.
"It's them who are screwing the nation!" protesters chanted outside the HSBC building, a shiny new skyscraper on Reforma, as dozens of riot police stood guard.
"We're defending the homeland, not the presidency. The homeland is in danger," said Eugenia Rodriguez, 63, a retired teacher from rural San Luis Potosi state.
"Banamex is really Citigroup, a foreign bank that ransacks the country," said Gerardo Fernandez, spokesman for the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD.
Mexico Leftist to Create Parallel Government
08-29) 14:12 PDT MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) --
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, convinced he won't be awarded the presidency, has vowed to create a parallel leftist government and is urging Mexicans not to recognize the apparent victory of the ruling party's Felipe Calderon.
While his party lacks the seats in Congress to block legislation, Lopez Obrador can mobilize millions to pressure his conservative rival to adopt the left's agenda — or to clamp down and risk a backlash.
Both scenarios are possibilities as the former Mexico City mayor lays out plans to create his own government to rule from the streets, with the support of thousands who are already occupying protest camps throughout downtown Mexico City.
Some predict his parallel initiative — which Lopez Obrador's supporters call the "legitimate government" — could turn those protest camps into the core of a violent revolt, especially if the government tries to shut it down.
Such violence broke out in the southern city of Oaxaca after Gov. Ulises Ruiz sent police to evict striking teachers. Outraged citizens' groups joined the protests, setting fire to buildings and public buses, seizing radio and TV stations and forcing the closure of businesses in a city known throughout the world as a quaint tourist destination.
More HERE
08-29) 14:12 PDT MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) --
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, convinced he won't be awarded the presidency, has vowed to create a parallel leftist government and is urging Mexicans not to recognize the apparent victory of the ruling party's Felipe Calderon.
While his party lacks the seats in Congress to block legislation, Lopez Obrador can mobilize millions to pressure his conservative rival to adopt the left's agenda — or to clamp down and risk a backlash.
Both scenarios are possibilities as the former Mexico City mayor lays out plans to create his own government to rule from the streets, with the support of thousands who are already occupying protest camps throughout downtown Mexico City.
Some predict his parallel initiative — which Lopez Obrador's supporters call the "legitimate government" — could turn those protest camps into the core of a violent revolt, especially if the government tries to shut it down.
Such violence broke out in the southern city of Oaxaca after Gov. Ulises Ruiz sent police to evict striking teachers. Outraged citizens' groups joined the protests, setting fire to buildings and public buses, seizing radio and TV stations and forcing the closure of businesses in a city known throughout the world as a quaint tourist destination.
More HERE
Mexican Leftists Storm Congress
President forced to cancel annual speech.
MEXICO CITY – In a historic rebuke, opposition lawmakers seized control of Mexico’s congressional chamber Friday and blocked President Vicente Fox from delivering his final State of the Nation address.
Fox, who was adorned in Mexico’s green, red and white presidential sash, stood awkwardly in the chamber’s foyer for nearly 10 minutes before conceding that he had no chance of entering. Surrounded by bodyguards, Fox was handed a microphone. He quickly said that he would leave and gave a copy of his speech to a legislative official.
The lawmakers who commandeered Mexico’s congressional building are aligned with the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, and its candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is demanding a full recount of the July 2 presidential election results.
The bizarre scene played out live on national television.
[...]
Fox smiled and nodded, while Sahagun chatted with the crowd that formed around them outside the building, which had been ringed by riot fencing and was guarded by 6,000 police officers. Then they disappeared into a waiting sport-utility vehicle.
Instead of a grand farewell on Friday, Fox became the first Mexican president not to deliver a State of the Nation address to Congress.
Linkage
President forced to cancel annual speech.
MEXICO CITY – In a historic rebuke, opposition lawmakers seized control of Mexico’s congressional chamber Friday and blocked President Vicente Fox from delivering his final State of the Nation address.
Fox, who was adorned in Mexico’s green, red and white presidential sash, stood awkwardly in the chamber’s foyer for nearly 10 minutes before conceding that he had no chance of entering. Surrounded by bodyguards, Fox was handed a microphone. He quickly said that he would leave and gave a copy of his speech to a legislative official.
The lawmakers who commandeered Mexico’s congressional building are aligned with the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, and its candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is demanding a full recount of the July 2 presidential election results.
The bizarre scene played out live on national television.
[...]
Fox smiled and nodded, while Sahagun chatted with the crowd that formed around them outside the building, which had been ringed by riot fencing and was guarded by 6,000 police officers. Then they disappeared into a waiting sport-utility vehicle.
Instead of a grand farewell on Friday, Fox became the first Mexican president not to deliver a State of the Nation address to Congress.
Linkage
