Paul Zarembka wrote:
What do you know about the statement that the European foreign observators said the election was OK? Such was an important factor in validating Chavez's win in Venezuela (i.e., Carter's validation), so I wonder about accepting foreign observator opinion in one case, but not in another.
The Europeans did say the process was clean. Well, there's strong evidence (now implicitly accepted by the electoral tribunal, who ruled the recount of almost 10% of the precincts) that the observation powers of the European observers were limited. Ultimately, we know, the best observer is a vigilant, well-organized, and united citizenry. And usually that goes along with a lucid (collective) leadership. And just to make a little point re. the last sentence. The media in Mexico insists that López Obrador is authoritarian and messianic, that he doesn't listen to anybody but himself. That he doesn't respect structures. Yet, he has kept together, functioning rather tightly and smoothly, an incredibly diverse and very heterogeneous coalition of people with very strong egos and beliefs, three political formations (the PRD, Convergencia, the PT), a bunch of mass organizations, and a large group of intellectuals, artists, and independent activists. It is true that one of the wings of the PRD has kept its distance (the Cárdenas clan and the far left), but it's still a melange -- from hyper-left types to former prominent PRI bureaucrats. His Sunday speech in El Zócalo was a lecture on PR. He responded patiently and respectfully to those who criticized the methods of struggle chosen by the movement. If you understand Spanish, take a look at it. http://media.amlo.org.mx/asamblea_06082006.wmv In the speech the day before yesterday, the microphones captured some individual shouts of people who sounded like very regular folks. When AMLO said that a PAN government would lead to more expatriation of Mexicans to make a living, a woman (not shown in the video) shouted "my whole family had to move to the U.S." ("toda mi familia se fue a los Estados Unidos") -- and then, when AMLO asked whether they were willing to stay put in the encamps until a full recount was attained, that same woman shouted in a tone that made me shiver: "To death!" ("hasta la muerte") A man, a peasant perhaps, from La Laguna or Zacatecas or some central northern region, shouted with a deep raspy voice, "We're tired of those thieves ruling us! You're not alone. We're with you, Mr. President!" (Similar expressions can be heard in yesterday's speech, after he said he understood if some people got tired if struggle continued for long, "we are humans and get tired," but pledged to defend his "national project" alone if need be.) Yesterday's speech, in front of the TRIFE facilities, was also very strong in tone: http://media.amlo.org.mx/asamblea_07082006.wmv In the next few days, if I can, I'll try to respond to some smart critics of the movement like Federico Reyes Heroles and Sergio Sarmiento. So keep visiting the blog: http://machete2006.wordpress.com/
