Elizabeth Rathbun's blog

A report by the Coalition for the Good of All, Mexico’s Partido de la Revolucion Democractica (PRD) Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party.

The July 2 election between Lopez Obrador and Felipe Calderon was marred with organized, systemic and massive fraud. Of 117,287 polling places, 72,197 sites reported tally sheets that did not add up. These errors throw into dispute 62% of the vote. Some polling sites reported more votes than ballots resulting in the addition of 898,862 votes. Other sites reported fewer votes than ballots eliminating 722,326 votes. As a result the electoral system could not account for a total of 1,621,188 votes.

The difference between the two candidates, Felipe Calderon and Lopez Obrador, was only 243,000 votes or 0.6% of the tally. The tally sheet irregularities and polling discrepancies were more than enough to throw the election.

Recent press coverage details how the presidential wins of Felipe Calderon in Mexico, of Alan Garcia in Peru, and of Oscar Arias in Costa Rica have reversed the tide of Latin America’s leftward movement. In Bolivia, Evo Morales experienced a setback with his populist reform agenda. The radicalism of Hugo Chavez scared away voters, the press says. Instead, voters seek leaders who provide stability and strengthen historically weak institutions, like banks and judiciaries.

Wait a minute! None of these elections were landslide victories by conservatives, they were close shaves. There was definite fraud in Mexico and suspected fraud in Peru. Significant parliamentary gains were made by leftist parties in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico, so that progress towards a conservative agenda will be problematic. A coalition government will be the likely result. Yet, this won’t be a piece of cake judging by the outrage the PRD delegates showed when blocking outgoing President Vicente Fox from giving his final state of the union speech. See photos below. Signs show Fox and say 'Traitor'

Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal on Saturday denied leftist presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's request for a full recount of the 41.7 million ballots from the country's July 2 presidential vote. Obrador has maintained that tallies contained errors in 72,197 polling stations demonstrating fraud.

The tribunal's seven magistrates examined 175 challenges presented and ruled unanimously that such a recount would be inappropriate but ordered a recount of 11,839 ballot boxes.

The tribunal, the ultimate arbiter in electoral disputes, has until September 6 to formally announce the name of the president-elect who takes office December 1.

Obrador had maintained that if the commission did not order a full recount it would be covering up a "general election fraud" to Calderon's benefit. His supporters have staged a tent-in demonstration since last Sunday in the heart of Mexico City and on the main avenue that bisects the capital, paralyzing traffic and business and tourism activities.

OAXACA - In the region of Oaxaca to the South of Mexico, diabolical schemes were used to frighten and discourage Mexican voters in poor areas. In fact, Rovian methods resemble those uncovered in the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections. Teachers involved in a yearly strike for 26 years and steelworkers joined with election protestors to call for the resignation of the governor, a member of the PRI party, who refused to negotiate and ordered tear-gas to dispel teachers.

This is a region that is excited about the fact that there could be a president who cares about the south and would be militant to defend Obrador. Residents of Oaxaca distrust the government and have reached a point that continued corruption is no longer acceptable.

The financial and cultural heart of Mexico City has been taken prisoner by presidential contender, Andres Lopez Obrador, and his supporters. Protests began on Monday with the setup of 47 tent camps blocking traffic on major boulevards including a 5-mile long blockade along Reforma Avenue. Rush hour access was paralyzed and workers were compelled to walk into the city. On Thursday, the Mexican Stock exchange was blockaded and acts of peaceful civil disobedience continued.

Photos from CBS news.com

"The public should understand that if there isn't democracy ... there won't be any justice, or political stability, or peacefulness," Lopez Obrador said in a speech at the protest camp where he spent the night on a cot in a large tent.

Great idea from Molly Ivins, the idea of a real human being as a president, not a corporate political tool!
Go to original.

Dear desperate Democrats:

Here’s what we do. We run Bill Moyers for president. I am serious as a stroke about this. It’s simple, cheap, and effective, and it will move the entire spectrum of political discussion in this country. Moyers is the only public figure who can take the entire discussion and shove it toward moral clarity just by being there.

Why run him? Think, imagine, if seven or eight other Democratic candidates, all beautifully coiffed and triangulated and carefully coached to say nothing that will offend anyone, stand on stage with Bill Moyers in front of cameras for a national debate … what would happen? Bill Moyers would win, would walk away with it, just because he doesn’t triangulate or calculate or trim or try to straddle the issues. Bill Moyers doesn’t have to endorse a constitutional amendment against flag burning or whatever wedge issue du jour Republicans have come up with. He is not afraid of being called “unpatriotic.” And besides, he is a wise and a kind man who knows how to talk on TV.

North Korean Madman Recoils in Horror In a controversial attempt to break the nuclear stalemate with North Korea, President George W. Bush today tried but failed to give North Korean President Kim Jong-Il a full body massage.

Mr. Bush had been searching for weeks for the proper pretext to meet with Mr. Kim in order to administer the surprise rubdown, White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed.

"The president believed that there were knots of tension in Kim Jong-Il's shoulders and neck region," Mr. Snow told reporters at the White House. "He felt that once those knots were removed, Kim Jong-Il would be more amenable to abandoning his nuclear program."

The president contacted the North Korean madman and told him that he wanted to arrange a one-on-one meeting to discuss a full range of issues, but never disclosed that his real agenda was to give President Kim a full-body massage.