Thursday, July 06, 2006
Y Ya Empezo la Marcha al Zocalo desde San Bernardino
DISCULPE LES MANDO ESTE EN INGLES, ABAJO ESTA OTRA FUENTE EN ESPANOL
Article Launched: 7/06/2006 12:00 AM
Latino activists cry voter fraud
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
SAN BERNARDINO - Latino activists Wednesday accused federal officials in Mexico of trying to rig the outcome of the presidential election in favor of conservative candidate Felipe Calderon.
The Riverside-based National Alliance for Human Rights and other groups said there were widespread irregularities in Sunday's election that could prevent leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from becoming president.
Alliance members said they would join with Lopez Obrador supporters in massive binational mobilizations if the election results prove to be fraudulent.
"We are prepared to participate in the struggle with our compatriots in Mexico to make sure that democracy and justice prevails," Armando Navarro, coordinator of the alliance, said in a news conference outside the Mexican Consulate.
The Federal Electoral Institute, the independent body charged with running Mexican elections, has yet to declare a winner in the tightest presidential contest in the nation's history.
An initial count showed Calderon, a member of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party, leading Lopez Obrador by a percentage point, or about 400,000 votes.
But election officials said about 2.5 million votes were not included in the preliminary count because of "inconsistencies" such as poor handwriting or extraneous marks on the tally sheets attached to each ballot box.
Election officials began reviewing all the tally sheets Wednesday morning and will continue the process until the final results are determined.
The final count will be turned over to Mexico's electoral court, which will certify the winner Sept. 6.
Both Calderon and Lopez Obrador declared victory after polls closed Sunday night.
Election officials said they would open ballot boxes to conduct individual counts only when there are tally-sheet problems.
But Lopez Obrador supporters said they would respect the outcome only if there is a hand recount of each ballot.
"If they count every vote and it is an honest count, we will accept the results," said Jose Bedolla, president of the Mexican Community Action Committee in Riverside.
Samuel Salas, a Lopez Obrador supporter who lives in Rialto, fears there could be widespread civil unrest in Mexico if the public isn't convinced the election was fair.
"I truly hope everything turns out peacefully," Salas said. "It will be the people who end up losing if there's a violent uprising."
Bedolla and other Lopez Obrador supporters worry about a repeat of the 1988 presidential election that was widely believed to have been won by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who belongs to Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party.
But on election night, with Cardenas leading by a comfortable margin, the computer system used to tally the results mysteriously crashed. When the computers were turned back on, Cardenas' opponent, Carlos Salinas de Gotari, had jumped in front and eventually was declared president.
Although he considered himself the winner, Cardenas conceded defeat and urged his followers to accept the outcome, averting a political crisis.
It was in the wake of that 1988 debacle that the Federal Electoral Institute was created.
The autonomous institute has been praised for its impartial and efficient handling of elections, including Fox's historic victory in 2000 that ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Six years later, with both sides claiming victory and their supporters prepared to take to the streets to protest a fraudulent outcome, the institute is now facing its greatest test.
Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Mexico's consul for San Bernardino and Riverside counties, believes the institute is up to the challenge.
"The reputation of the Federal Electoral Institute has been constructed over the last 15 years," Giralt-Cabrales said. "It will be up to the Mexican people to keep constructing a solid base for our electoral system."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Alejandro Cano
alejandro.cano@laopinion.com
6 de julio de 2006
SAN BERNARDINO.— El Partido Acción Nacional, el Instituto Federal Electoral y la así llamada "oligarquía empresarial mexicana, quieren robar la presidencia de manos de Obrador". Así lo informaron ayer activistas de organizaciones defensoras del inmigrante en Estados Unidos durante manifestaciones frente a varios consulados mexicanos en California.
Armando Navarro, coordinador de la Alianza Nacional para Derechos Humanos (NAHR), junto a Raciel García, coordinador de Unión sin Fronteras, y activistas de diferentes ciudades, exigieron transparencia durante el cómputo distrital.
Navarro aseguró que se intentaba cometer un fraude durante el conteo de los 300 consejos distritales, para retener al PAN como partido gobernante, tal como el Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) lo hizo por más de siete décadas.
"La historia parece repetirse. En 1988 el PRI le robó la presidencia al entonces candidato del PRD, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, para entregársela a Carlos Salinas de Gortari, quien terminó por ser un desastre para México", expresó Navarro. "Hoy, es evidente que en México está naciendo una dictadura, esta vez es el PAN quien no quiere dejar el poder.
Navarro explicó los intereses que el PAN, IFE y la Administración del presidente George W. Bush tienen para que Felipe Calderón sea nombrado nuevo presidente.
"Si Obrador gana, la economía de México será restaurada, esto no le beneficia a los Estados Unidos quien depende de los mexicanos para tener una economía estable", indicó Navarro. "La democracia de México está en peligro. Son estas fuerzas extranjeras que junto a partidos corruptos la ponen en riesgo".
Navarro se refirió a la supuesta participación que Dick Morris, jefe de campaña de Bush en 2002, desempeñó durante la campaña de Calderón. Según José Bedolla, coordinador del Comité Mexicano Activo de Riverside, la presencia de Morris en México emana dudas sobre la real transparencia en las elecciones.
Dirigentes del PAN han negado en diferentes ocasiones la participación directa de Morris en la campaña política de Calderón.
Bedolla también indicó que los medios de prensa quieren "vender a un ganador" anunciando en repetidas ocasiones que Calderón mantiene la delantera en encuestas realizadas por diferentes empresas de investigación.
"Calderón se declaró ganador, y exigió al IFE que lo reconociera como tal", dijo Bedolla. "Constantemente escuchamos decir que Calderón ya ganó, que el conteo lo demostró".
Navarro aseguró que si el cómputo daba por ganador a Calderón, se celebrarían manifestaciones no sólo en México, sino también en Estados Unidos para exigir la legitimidad del conteo. Si después de analizar los resultados no existen dudas de fraude, "entonces aceptaremos la derrota", aseguró Navarro.
Article Launched: 7/06/2006 12:00 AM
Latino activists cry voter fraud
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
SAN BERNARDINO - Latino activists Wednesday accused federal officials in Mexico of trying to rig the outcome of the presidential election in favor of conservative candidate Felipe Calderon.
The Riverside-based National Alliance for Human Rights and other groups said there were widespread irregularities in Sunday's election that could prevent leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from becoming president.
Alliance members said they would join with Lopez Obrador supporters in massive binational mobilizations if the election results prove to be fraudulent.
"We are prepared to participate in the struggle with our compatriots in Mexico to make sure that democracy and justice prevails," Armando Navarro, coordinator of the alliance, said in a news conference outside the Mexican Consulate.
The Federal Electoral Institute, the independent body charged with running Mexican elections, has yet to declare a winner in the tightest presidential contest in the nation's history.
An initial count showed Calderon, a member of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party, leading Lopez Obrador by a percentage point, or about 400,000 votes.
But election officials said about 2.5 million votes were not included in the preliminary count because of "inconsistencies" such as poor handwriting or extraneous marks on the tally sheets attached to each ballot box.
Election officials began reviewing all the tally sheets Wednesday morning and will continue the process until the final results are determined.
The final count will be turned over to Mexico's electoral court, which will certify the winner Sept. 6.
Both Calderon and Lopez Obrador declared victory after polls closed Sunday night.
Election officials said they would open ballot boxes to conduct individual counts only when there are tally-sheet problems.
But Lopez Obrador supporters said they would respect the outcome only if there is a hand recount of each ballot.
"If they count every vote and it is an honest count, we will accept the results," said Jose Bedolla, president of the Mexican Community Action Committee in Riverside.
Samuel Salas, a Lopez Obrador supporter who lives in Rialto, fears there could be widespread civil unrest in Mexico if the public isn't convinced the election was fair.
"I truly hope everything turns out peacefully," Salas said. "It will be the people who end up losing if there's a violent uprising."
Bedolla and other Lopez Obrador supporters worry about a repeat of the 1988 presidential election that was widely believed to have been won by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who belongs to Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party.
But on election night, with Cardenas leading by a comfortable margin, the computer system used to tally the results mysteriously crashed. When the computers were turned back on, Cardenas' opponent, Carlos Salinas de Gotari, had jumped in front and eventually was declared president.
Although he considered himself the winner, Cardenas conceded defeat and urged his followers to accept the outcome, averting a political crisis.
It was in the wake of that 1988 debacle that the Federal Electoral Institute was created.
The autonomous institute has been praised for its impartial and efficient handling of elections, including Fox's historic victory in 2000 that ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Six years later, with both sides claiming victory and their supporters prepared to take to the streets to protest a fraudulent outcome, the institute is now facing its greatest test.
Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Mexico's consul for San Bernardino and Riverside counties, believes the institute is up to the challenge.
"The reputation of the Federal Electoral Institute has been constructed over the last 15 years," Giralt-Cabrales said. "It will be up to the Mexican people to keep constructing a solid base for our electoral system."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alejandro Cano
alejandro.cano@laopinion.com
6 de julio de 2006
SAN BERNARDINO.— El Partido Acción Nacional, el Instituto Federal Electoral y la así llamada "oligarquía empresarial mexicana, quieren robar la presidencia de manos de Obrador". Así lo informaron ayer activistas de organizaciones defensoras del inmigrante en Estados Unidos durante manifestaciones frente a varios consulados mexicanos en California.
Armando Navarro, coordinador de la Alianza Nacional para Derechos Humanos (NAHR), junto a Raciel García, coordinador de Unión sin Fronteras, y activistas de diferentes ciudades, exigieron transparencia durante el cómputo distrital.
Navarro aseguró que se intentaba cometer un fraude durante el conteo de los 300 consejos distritales, para retener al PAN como partido gobernante, tal como el Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) lo hizo por más de siete décadas.
"La historia parece repetirse. En 1988 el PRI le robó la presidencia al entonces candidato del PRD, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, para entregársela a Carlos Salinas de Gortari, quien terminó por ser un desastre para México", expresó Navarro. "Hoy, es evidente que en México está naciendo una dictadura, esta vez es el PAN quien no quiere dejar el poder.
Navarro explicó los intereses que el PAN, IFE y la Administración del presidente George W. Bush tienen para que Felipe Calderón sea nombrado nuevo presidente.
"Si Obrador gana, la economía de México será restaurada, esto no le beneficia a los Estados Unidos quien depende de los mexicanos para tener una economía estable", indicó Navarro. "La democracia de México está en peligro. Son estas fuerzas extranjeras que junto a partidos corruptos la ponen en riesgo".
Navarro se refirió a la supuesta participación que Dick Morris, jefe de campaña de Bush en 2002, desempeñó durante la campaña de Calderón. Según José Bedolla, coordinador del Comité Mexicano Activo de Riverside, la presencia de Morris en México emana dudas sobre la real transparencia en las elecciones.
Dirigentes del PAN han negado en diferentes ocasiones la participación directa de Morris en la campaña política de Calderón.
Bedolla también indicó que los medios de prensa quieren "vender a un ganador" anunciando en repetidas ocasiones que Calderón mantiene la delantera en encuestas realizadas por diferentes empresas de investigación.
"Calderón se declaró ganador, y exigió al IFE que lo reconociera como tal", dijo Bedolla. "Constantemente escuchamos decir que Calderón ya ganó, que el conteo lo demostró".
Navarro aseguró que si el cómputo daba por ganador a Calderón, se celebrarían manifestaciones no sólo en México, sino también en Estados Unidos para exigir la legitimidad del conteo. Si después de analizar los resultados no existen dudas de fraude, "entonces aceptaremos la derrota", aseguró Navarro.
