According to the Miami Herald, the explosions could be seen miles away, as the flames and black smoke rose above the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. There were no reports of injuries, but over 20,000 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution.

Economic Loses
Due to the lack of fuel because the attack shut down the pipeline running between Mexico City and Guadalajara, Volkswagen de Mexico, Volkswagen’s only manufacturing facility in North America, along with another major auto plant, and over 2,000 companies across the country were forced to shut down or cut back production. Business groups estimate economic losses could total 90 million in US dollars.

Pemex will millions of dollars per day in lost gas sales and will have to spend millions more to repair the damaged infrastructure. This comes at a time when Pemex is already under strain because of a decline in revenue and output from its aging oil fields. Pemex officials are aiming to repair the pipelines and get production back on line by September 17th. However, Economist.com raises concerns if Pemex’s financial constraints could prevent it from making the necessary investments in security at its installations because Pemex officials have already admitted that they are unable to protect it’s massive pipeline infrastructure.

The Spin Game Begins
Some security analysts have suggested a possible alliance between the EPR and drug cartels. Ernesto Mendieta, director of the security consulting firm Aquesta Terra, said that the attacks are similar to the attacks that occur in Columbia, which, according to him, is the proof that they are connected with Mexico’s Gulf drug cartel, the Zetas. Mendieta said:

“There are changes in the variables of how the EPR makes its decisions that are coming from violent elements within drug trafficking, drug distributors, which is a separate group, and others,” said Mr. Mendieta. “These groups are involved in the decision-making process.”

The notion quickly been rebuffed by Ricardo Alemán, a columnist for El Universal, a Mexico City newspaper. Alemán said,

“There is no evidence that they [EPR members] are directly linked to drug trafficking,” adding that powerful drug cartels who buy entire police departments and mayors “don’t need the EPR at this moment.”

However, it seems the government has its own spin on the matter. On Thursday, Attorney General Manuel Medina, said that EPR is a “small group which diverts federal government efforts from confronting organized crime.”

This was quickly rebuffed by EPR. In a communiqué, EPR denied government allegations that its attacks are acts of terrorism, and claimed their demonstrations stem from social and political reclamations or demands. EPR also stated that it is hypocritical of the government to condemn their actions, yet remain silent about State terrorism and allowing the extreme right to reissue its dirty war and the institutionalization of fascism, while having gall to demand that they be prosecuted to the fullest extent permissible by law in name of the democracy and the right of an oligarchical state.

Hay quienes condenan y descalifican nuestro accionar de autodefensa colgándonos el epíteto de delincuentes y terroristas, pero callan y guardan silencio ante el terrorismo de Estado y el proceder de la ultraderecha, avalando en los hechos la reedición de la guerra sucia y la institucionalización del fascismo, llegando al descaro de exigir el castigo y todo el peso de la ley en nombre de la democracia y un estado de derecho oligárquico.

The reference to a “dirty war” is in regards to Mexico’s dirty war in the 1970s, when the army made sweeping roundups of hundreds of people accused of being linked to rebels.

There are recurrent reports of detention of “suspects” whose only connection with anti-governmental activity may be blood relationship with wanted guerrillas; of persons detained extra-constitutionally by military authorities, […] and of prisoners tortured while in detention. Lately, there have been indications also that GOM [Government of Mexico] has murdered some prisoners after extracting all information they have to give…

EPR is still insisting that its two disappeared members, Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez, who were arrested by security forces from the streets of Oaxaca city in May are being held in secret prisons or a military camp. This was stated in their communiqué to the Mexican media during the attacks. They stated that the attacks were intended to force the release of two of the group’s leaders held by President Felipe Calderon’s government.

The Fight Continues
The federal government of Mexico and the state government of Oaxaca continue to deny taking the two men, and says they were perhaps killed in a feud between gorilla leaders, many of whom come from three overlapping families who have led guerrilla groups in southern Mexico for decades. The EPR maintains the two men are in clandestine military custody and in one communiqué accuses General Oropeza Garnica of having ordered kidnapping.

The EPR has vowed that their campaign of “politico-military harassment” will continue until the government releases Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez. This treat was first made during the first attacks back in July. So far, those were not hollow threats.

On July 28, an EPR commando attacked the site of a prison in construction in Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. The guerrillas captured the three guards and locked them in a guard booth. They painted slogans on the walls that read “They were taken alive, we want them back alive,” “EPR will win,” “Long live the EPR” and “Freedom for political prisoners.” No injuries were reported in the incident. On Aug 31, over 10,000 people were evacuated from Torre Mayor, Mexico City’s tallest tower, after an attempted car bombing, which ERP took credit.

The attacks come at a time of considerable unrest in Mexico, where it has become clear that the wounds of last year’s the technical coup d’etat still have not healed. While come like to think Andrés Manuel López Obrador is infective should think again. It seems López Obrador’s political party, PRD, is still creating problems for the illegitimate right-wing President Felipe Calderón.

Earlier this month, PRD Congressional members who also do not regard Mr. Calderón’s as the legitimate president were able to use parliamentary rules to keep him from giving his annual address to Congress, and then boycotted the ceremony which he delivered his address in writing.

In addition, they are pushing forward legislation that would strictly control campaign advertising and limit negative ads and would force, Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of the Federal Election Institute, out of office for being part of the technical coup d’etat that helped put Calderón into power.

Meanwhile, tonight, Mexico’s legitimate President, López Obrador, and his followers have promised to invade Mexico City’s historic zócalo to stop Calderón from giving the annual grito to mark the start of Mexico’s revolution against Spain.

¡VIVA MÉXICO!

¡Hasta Victoria Siempre!

EPR issued a statement to the national and international mass media and to those who are fighting for human rights.

A QUIEN CORRESPONDA

PRESENTE

Por medio de la presente hacemos llegar a los medios de comunicación y a nuestro pueblo el primer comunicado de nuestro partido en el estado de Guanajuato, en donde se expone nuestra posición política sobre las explosiones en los ductos de PEMEX.

De antemano agradecemos la atención prestada para con nosotros y nos despedimos cordialmente.

AL PUEBLO DE MEXICO

AL PUEBLO DE GUANAJUATO

A LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN NACIONALES E INTERNACIONALES

A LOS ORGANISMOS NO GUBERNAMENTALES DEFENSORES DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS

¡HERMANAS, HERMANOS, CAMARADAS!

En el norte del país la naturaleza ha sido muy benevolente con nosotros, en Cadereyta un rayo incendió un depósito de combustible propiedad de PEMEX; aquí en Guanajuato los viejos ductos, su falta de mantenimiento, la ordeña múltiple de éstos y un “pinchazo” para extraer gas generaron una pérdida de presión en la red lo que ocasionó varias explosiones; podría quedarse así, quedarnos callados, guardar silencio y seguir escuchando los absurdos de las autoridades pero el pueblo merece conocer la verdad. Y Esta es nuestra verdad y nuestros motivos:

En cumplimiento de la orden del Comité Central de nuestro partido y de la Comandancia General de nuestro ejército rendimos el siguiente parte militar:

- La orden de iniciar con la campaña nacional de hostigamiento contra los intereses de la oligarquía y de este gobierno ilegítimo ha sido puesta en marcha.

- Tres pelotones mixtos conformados por unidades urbanas y rurales pertenecientes al destacamento “Francisco Javier Mina” y contando con el apoyo de milicias populares de todo el estado han realizado acciones quirúrgicas de hostigamiento, poniendo 8 cargas explosivas en los ductos de PEMEX ubicados en Celaya, Salamanca, Valle de Santiago Guanajuato y en la válvula de seccionamiento de Coroneo, activadas simultáneamente a la 1:00 horas de los días 5 y 10 de julio.

A nuestro pueblo le informamos que las acciones de hostigamiento no pararán hasta que el gobierno de Felipe Calderón y el de Ulises Ruiz presenten con vida a nuestros compañeros Edmundo Reyes Amaya y Raymundo Rivera Bravo o Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez, detenidos-desaparecidos desde el 25 de mayo en Oaxaca.

A nuestro Comité Central y a la Comandancia General informamos que todas las unidades que dependen de esta jefatura siguen concentradas en su puesto de combate y están en máxima alerta dispuestas a esperar órdenes ¡Esperamos órdenes!

¡POR LA PRESENTACION INMEDIATA DE NUESTROS COMPAÑEROS!

¡POR LA PRESENTACION DE TODOS LOS DETENIDOS-DESAPARECIDOS!

¡POR LA LIBERTAD DE TODOS PRESOS POLITICOS Y DE CONCIENCIA DEL PAIS!

¡POR NUESTROS CAMARADAS PROLETARIOS!

¡RESUELTOS A VENCER!

¡POR LA REVOLUCION SOCIALISTA!

¡VENCER O MORIR!

¡CON LA GUERRA POPULAR!

¡EL EPR TRIUNFARA!

COMITÉ ESTATAL DEL PARTIDO DEMOCRATICO POPULAR REVOLUCIONARIO (PDPR)

COMANDANCIA MILITAR DE ZONA DEL EJERCITO POPULAR REVOLUCIONARIO (EPR)

Año 43

Estado de Guanajuato, a 10 de julio de 2007.

The group said it will continue to carry out “surgical harassment actions” until President Felipe Calderon and the governor of the state of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz, release two of its members who were arrested back in May.

President Felipe Calderón has ordered a reinforcement of security measures in strategically important oil fields and other areas.

What makes EPR statement interesting, they said the bombings were the signal of the beginning of its campaign against the interests of “the oligarchy and of this illegitimate government.” The word “illegitimate” echoes presidential contender Andres Manuel López Obrador, who lost the 2006 election to Calderon by less than 0.6 percentage point, and uses the same term for the current administration. After leading two months of post-election street protests culminating in a self- inauguration, López Obrador continues his claim to be the rightful head of state.

Earlier this month, more than 300,000 people filled the giant Zocalo plaza in downtown Mexico City for the third National Democratic Convention (CND) called by López Obrador. Richard from The Mex Files notes that part of the AMLO’s speech focused on “rejection of any privatization of Pemex.”

It would be wise to keep an eye on the activities happening in Mexico because it sure does look like the natives are getting restless down there. And it would be wise not to count López Obrador, as Richard said “AMLO is certain not down… nor out.”

But Fox left office Friday at one second after midnight under a cloud of disappointment, leaving behind a country that is currently facing street protests over his successor’s paper-thin election, a southern state engulfed in a crisis, and a worsening war between the drug cartels.

In a live broadcast, Calderon called on Mexicans to leave behind the divisions that have dogged him and the country since the July 2 election. Calderón also swore in some of his staff and said he would not be prevented from taking the official oath of office before Congress later Friday.

On Tuesday, lawmakers of [tag]Andrés Manuel López Obrador[/tag]’s (AMLO) – Calderón’s rival in the disputed presidential election, [tag]Party of the Democratic Revolution[/tag] ([tag]PRD[/tag]) literally fought with the ruling party for control of the speaker’s podium, the area where the swearing-in is to take place before Congress. They later staked out their territory by camping out with blankets and pillows for three days, in an attempt to block the ceremony. According to the Houston Chronicle, the fight has continued an hour before incoming President Felipe Calderón was to take the oath of office.

To make matters interesting, PAN lawmakers were able to seize the speaker’s platform where the oath of office is supposed to take place; however, PRD lawmakers were able to block most of the chamber’s doors. The brutal clash was shown on live television across Mexico. However, in the end, Calderón was able to take the oath of office as Mexico’s president.

Physically protected by ruling party lawmakers and flanked by outgoing President Vicente Fox, Calderon quickly swore to uphold the constitution. The national anthem was then played, momentarily stilling the cat-calls and shouting. Calderon quickly left the chamber as Congress adjourned.

AMLO and the PRD have been a thorn on Fox, Calderón, and PAN’s side. In September, lawmakers of the PRD managed to block Fox from giving his state-of-the-nation speech in Congress, which marked the first time in Mexican history this ever happened to a standing president. Later that month, President Fox was forced to change site of the annual Mexican Independence Day grito that traditionally took place in Mexico City’s central plaza.

On Thursday, legislators from the PRD and the Labor Party voted against a motion to hold Friday morning’s joint legislative session, leaving little hope for PAN’s Party leaders in resolving the crisis. The standoff in Congress has forced Calderón to take unusual steps to avoid clashes in order to keep visiting heads of state from the viewing the chaos that is about to plague his presidency, such as having the transfer of power ceremony take place at Los Pinos. Although legal experts agree that Calderón became Mexico official President one second after midnight on Dec. 1, however, there is only one problem, Calderón still has to take official oath of office oath before Congress. Experts on Mexico’s constitution are left trying to figure out whether Mexico has a president or not some constitutional experts say Calderón must first be sworn in.

Prior to taking the oath of office, Calderón has done his best to ask for unity and reconciliation since the nation’s highest electoral court proclaimed him the winner in September. He has said that his top priorities will be fighting poverty and crime and has pledged to reorganize Mexico’s fractured and ineffective police forces to take on organized crime. However, on November 20, López Obrador declared himself “the legitimate president” of Mexico and has already set up his shadow government. AMLO has already promised to call for more mass protests on any of Calderón’s policies that the PRD does not agree with.

Calderón has already named four people for cabinet positions, which does give insight what Mexico can expect from a Calderón Administration. He has picked Francisco Ramírez Acuña to be his all-important interior minister, the agency in charge of Mexico’s domestic politics and policy. This would suggest that Calderón will be taking a hard line against civil disobedience that has disrupted Mexico for months. Acuña was governor of the western state of Jalisco, where he gained notoriety for brutally quashing leftist protesters in May 2004 and has also been accused of human rights violations.

As Jalisco governor, Ramírez Acuña allegedly authorized the use of excessive force against anti-globalization protesters during a summit of Latin American and European leaders in Guadalajara in 2004. Both national and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, denounced what they said were arbitrary detentions and even torture of suspects.

“The blatant and prolonged nature of the alleged police abuses strongly suggests that they were carried out with the approval of some level of command within the security forces,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch´s Americas Division after a probe into the incidents.

Calderón has also selected a former high-ranking official of the International Monetary Fund, Agustín Carstens, to finance minister, sending a signal that Calderón intends to pursue a tight monetary policy, keep inflation low and avoid overspending on public programs.

Calderón has also named a team of US-educated economists to his Cabinet, which is a clear signal that Mexico’s government will be run by business.

He has appointed little-known Georgina Kessel of the central bank to be his energy minister. She will be Mexico’s first female to head that department. Kessel is an economist educated at Columbia University and has vowed to modernize the country’s energy sector.

Among the team of US-educated economist that Calderón has named to his Cabinet, two of them were once top members of Mexico’s PRI, the previous ruling party. They are Javier Lozano and Luis Tellez and will take up the positions of labor minister and communications and transport minister.

Mexico’s new labor secretary will be lawyer Javier Lozan, who promised to respect the country’s powerful unions while working with Congress on reforms to make Mexico more business friendly. Lozano severed as deputy secretary of transportation and communications under former President Ernesto Zedillo.

Luis Tellez will run the Communications and Transportation Department. Tellez has a doctorate in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1997 to 2000, Tellez also served under former President Ernesto Zedillo as Mexico’s Secretary of Energy. According to a press release from Sempra Energy, Tellez is credited for restructuring the Mexican electricity sector, by allowing broader private involvement in generating, distributing and transmitting electricity. Up until his appointment, Tellez was managing director for George Bush Senior’s Carlyle Group investment firm. Prior to joining Carlyle, Tellez served as executive vice president of DESC, S.A. de C.V., one of the largest companies in Mexico.

Now that Felipe Calderón is President, Mexico is just another casualty to the US imperialistic empire – a country soon filled with the very poor, living in wretched slums and working for pennies, while the country is infested with greedy modern day hacienda owners benefiting from Mexico’s new business-friendly government.

How appropriate the saying by former Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz: ¡Pobre México, tan lejos de Dios, tan cerca de los Estados Unidos! (So Far from God; So Close to the United States)

The hostility between [tag]AMLO[/tag] and Fox and PAN, stems from PAN’s dirty campaign tactics that was responsible for Calderón’s slim victory in the July 2 election. An election tinged with corruption and fraud. And Mexico’s Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) ruling back in August didn’t help either because the court ruled that López Obrador had failed to provide sufficient evidence that election fraud did take place during the election.

Before today’s inauguration, AMLO had toured around Mexico gathering support, appointing members to his Cabinet and asking for contributions to support his government. Although the government will not collect taxes or make laws, they asking asking for donations to help carry out their plans for the parallel government. One of AMLO’s first order of business is to prevent Calderón’s Dec. 1 inauguration ceremony.

“Those neo-fascist reactionaries better not think they’ll have room to manoeuvre,” he told his supporters on Saturday.

His supporters have pledged to block Calderón’s swearing-in ceremony before the Mexican Congress. Plans on how this goal is to be achieved has yet been made public. However, federal police have already set up barricades around the Chamber of Deputies to prevent AMLO’s supporters from setting up new protest camps there in coming days.

It remains to be seen whether today’s events will undermine Calderón or will help AMLO keep up the momentum. According to the latest poll conducted by Parametría, 50% of respondents do believe there were irregularities during the last presidential election, while 40% disagree. So far, the tourism industry has taken a heavy toll because of Mexico’s recent events. According to Mexico Tourism Department, tourism has significantly dropped between January and September of 2006, down 4.3% from the same period in 2005.

None of this should be blamed on AMLO. Mexico was already plagued with turmoil. A conflict that began nearly six months ago in southern Oaxaca City over teacher wages had rose to the point that the city’s schoolteachers had decided to go on strike, which they later blocked the streets fearing that they would be attacked from Mexico’s military. The condition in Oaxaca was so bad, that a legitimate popular uprising took place where a group called the People of Oaxaca (APPO) had seized portions of the city demanding that removal of Oaxaca’s Governor Ulises Ruiz. Later in October, Indymedia journalist and videoblogger Brad Will was the killed while covering the teacher’s strike in Oaxaca.

This month, Mexico City was rattled when several bombs exploded at the top electoral court, a bank and the former ruling party’s headquarters. A coalition of five leftist guerrilla groups from the State of Oaxaca claimed responsibility.

The bombings across Mexico City caused no injuries but rattled nerves in a country wracked by protests since the polarizing July 2 presidential elections. President Vicente Fox called the attacks “criminal acts aimed at frightening the population.”

Leftist protesters have battled police for control of Oaxaca City since last week, and the guerrilla statement pledged to continue “military” actions until the Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz step down. Protesters accuse Ruiz of rigging the elections that brought him to power and oppressing dissent, but have so far failed in their attempts to oust him.

It was also reported that two grenades exploded at a residential building in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco, hours before President Vicente Fox and President-elect Calderon arrived to the area to participate in a business forum.

Even though there are some Mexican columnist who will try their best to downplay AMLOâ��s “swearing in” ceremony, one does have to wonder if Evo Morales went through the ridicule when he led the same type of protests that cause President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to resign from office in 2005.

As long as corruption persists in Mexico, AMLO’s platform will continue to resonate with many of Mexico’s poor.

Viva Andrés Manuel López Obrador, el Presidente “Legítimo”!

President Vicente Fox sidestepped another showdown with leftist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announcing Thursday that he won’t hold tonight’s traditional Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City’s massive central plaza.

The first symbolic victory occurred when legislators from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) halted President Fox from delivering the state-of-the-nation address to Congress, which was the first time in Mexican history this ever happened to a standing president. Another symbolic victory occurred when AMLO supporters forced President-elect Felipe Calderón, to use the city’s bullring for his victory rally, a small venue that could be easily secured.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his supporters had vowed they would upstage Fox by declining to take part in today’s annual salute of “Viva Mexico!”. They are planning to take over the Zócalo for their own celebration, which Alejandro Encinas, Mexico City’s current mayor and a member of López Obrador’s party, will lead in the city’s festivities.

Fox has decided he will give the symbolic “grito” – the liberty cry — in the to the small, central town of Dolores Hidalgo, which is built 170 miles northwest of Mexico City, where Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo launched the first call for independence from Spain in 1810. The area is also located in Fox’s home state of Guanajuato, a bastion of support for his moderate National Action Party (PAN).

On Saturday, AMLO, the PRD and their supporters will hold their National Democratic Convention, which they expect that more than 1 million volunteer delegates from all 31 states and the Federal District to show up. Former López Obrador campaign coordinator Jesús Ortega said that almost 800,000 delegates had been registered since the meeting were announced back on Aug 19.

AMLO political future hangs on the outcome of this Convention. AMLO will be set the course for its movement in opposition to Felipe Calderón at the Convention on Saturday.

“The task he (López Obrador) faces is that of speaking out on the same issues that Calderón will be making decisions on,” historian and political observer Lorenzo Meyer, a member of the Colegio de México, told EFE.

The academic said he saw López Obrador creating a form of “shadow Cabinet” that would serve as a “mirror” to criticize the Calderón administration.

Meyer said the convention could also lead to the creation of several organizations, some backed by the parties making up the leftist coalition, as well as unions, grassroots groups and non-governmental organizations, that would take action within Mexico´s institutions.

It would be interesting to see what stance AMLO will take this weekend. José Antonio Crespo, of the Center for Economic Research and Instruction showed that if AMLO chosen a radical approach he “could start to become marginalized and lose influence in decision making.” However, if AMLO chosen a moderated approach he “could have a strong influence on the PRD” and bolster its position in Congress.

Despite the thousands of protesters in the streets, unprecedented disruptions, no violent outbreaks have occurred forcing the government remain peacefully tolerant. There is no doubt that López Obrador and his advisers have purposely avoided getting involved in situations that would start violence. So far, they voted not to march to a heavily guarded congressional building the day President Fox was to force his annual report to Congress and AMLO has vowed not to interfere with the military parade during Independence Day celebrations this weekend. The avoidance of force clearly has limited the government’s ability to react, which in turn makes AMLO good in the eyes of his supporters and that sympathy to his cause.

On the US side, the House of Representatives voted 283-138 for a bill providing for the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border designed to curb anybody crossing the border. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 [PDF text] also allows the Department of Homeland Security to take control of the border in 18 months and it will also give border patrol agents additional authority to stop fleeing vehicles. The bill, however, does not provide the funding to pay for the construction of the “reinforced fencing,” which is estimated to be between $2 and $7 billion. This is rather a curious move by Congress considering the latest news regarding the immigration debate occurred when Senator Bill Frist announced that immigration reform was “impossible to pass” but would focus on border security.

U.S. congressional leaders are giving up on broad immigration legislation that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants and instead will concentrate on border security ahead of the elections, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said

This announcement occurred right after the Mexican Electoral Court ruled Calderón winner. Now the House of Rep passes a hallow bill for the construction of a 700-mil border wall. Is this a message?

Back in March, I wrote that the relationship between Mexico and the US have been strained because Mexico became a signatory to the International Criminal Court making them the 12th country from the Latin America-Caribbean area to be punished under the U.S. American Service-Members’ Protection Act. The law prohibits military assistance to states that have not signed “Article 98″ agreements. An “Article 98” agreement is the agreement between the US and those states who pledge not to seek the prosecution of US citizens in the ICC. In March Houston Chronicle, announced that the authorities were imposed without an officially notifying Mexico.

One does have to wonder how much of Congress’ actions are spurred on by the events unfolding in Mexico. Building a border wall will only make matters worse between the two countries. The world waits for tomorrow.

Viva Mexico Cabrones!

It seems Mexico has been hit by the Orwellian PAN rules – some pigs are more equal than others. In its final ruling, Mexico’s electoral court (TEPJF) acknowledged there were illegal campaign interference from President Vicente Fox and the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE). They state that both Fox and the CCE showed favoritism towards candidate Felipe Calderónthe of the ruling National Action Party (PAN).

They recognized that the attack ads used against Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) were illegal, however, they pointed out that the AMLO had used the same tactics. Nevertheless, in the end, the seven-judge panel firmly stated that none of the irregularities was significant enough to have significantly altered the outcome of the election.

The unappealable ruling handed down by the electoral court, which in its 10 years of existence has never been accused of bias, details each of the irregularities that were found, but says that their impact was not strong enough to justify annulling the elections.

Where the Orwellian rules enter is the fact TEPJF had previously ruled to annull two provincial governor race. In TEPJF landmark cases, the Tabasco election the court determined there were “grave irregularities.” They found there that vote buying existed and there was greater coverage produced for the PRI candidate by the state-owned television network.

The court had also rejected the allegations that López Obrador received unfair treatment by the media, and that the Fox administration manipulated government social programmes to benefit Calderón.

With regard to the alleged misuse of government social programmes, the electoral court found that in more than half of the municipalities where local residents benefit from the aid plans, López Obrador triumphed, while the winner in the country’s 15 poorest municipalities was Roberto Madrazo, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled the country from 1929 to 2000, but came in third in the July elections.

In a mid August El Universal poll, those living in Mexico City 59% felt that the election was stolen. After decades of a one-party rule sustained with fraudulent elections, it is not surprising that many Mexicans have a deep distrust of their own institutions and courts.

According to Reforma columnist, Miguel Granados, the judges decision to downplay the irregularities, has now sent clear message that “illegalities are good business.” I have to agree to his assessment. There was clear evidence of voter fraud had occurred in which the election court has chose to ignore. What would does it take to prove fraud? If more than half of the tally sheets from the nation’s 130,000 election precincts contained errors in arithmetic, how can one make a judgement that it is due to widespread “incompetence” among poll workers? How does one explain ballots magically appearing and disappearing?

Tomorrow is the day that Today the Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) will finally officially name Felipe Calderón president-elect. Honestly, it is not surprising, last week TEPJF had ruled that Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) had failed to prove that the irregularities in many of the polling places did not stem from fraud, nor had he successfully demonstrated that the errors affected him more than his opponent.

AMLO has already stated that he will never recognize Calderón’s victory and has vowed to create a parallel government, which he and his supports are already drafting up their new constitution for Mexico.

“We don’t want cosmetic changes,” López Obrador told thousands gathered in Mexico City’s main plaza, the Zócalo, where he has been sleeping in a tent for five weeks to protest the July 2 presidential elections.

AMLO and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) won a major victory and struck a blow to PAN on Sept 1 when PRD legislators stopped President Vicente Fox from giving his final state-of- the-nation speech. And building from this momentous victory, the same legislators are now planning to stop Calderón from being sworn in on Dec. 1. It must be noted that the event that occurred on Sept 1 will added to one many of Fox’s list of first:

• First opposition party president after 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI);
• Mexico’s first-ever businessman president;
• First President whose party did not have majority in either the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate; and
• Now first president to have failed to deliver the annual speech to Congress

Although the PRD is celebrating from their symbolic victory, Fox may just have the last laugh while at the same time embarrassing the country he served. So who is this sly Fox who just threw Mexico for a loop.

It was believed that Vicente Fox Quesada, the second of nine children, was born in Mexico City on July 2, 1942 to José Luis Fox and Mercedes Quesada. But it was recently discovered by La Jornada (via Charles at Mercury Rising) that Fox is not a naturalized a Mexican citizen and probably was born in Clevand, Ohio, which is a direct violation of Article 82 of Mexico’s Constitution and adding insult to injury, he is a US citizen. Last week, a request was made at the Interior Ministry asking official proof of Vicente Fox Quesada (Fox y Quezada, official last name) citizenship.

A document discovered in the Civil Registry of Guanajuato shows that the father of President Fox, José Luis Fox Pont, was an American citizen and maintained American citizenship for his son. La Jornada also discovered Fox also violated the nationality requirement while serving as Governor of Guanajuato after former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) revising the Constitutional requirement that opened the electoral doors to Vicente Fox. The original requirement stated that all candidates had to be born to parents of Mexican nationality; the new requirement only one parent has to be of Mexican nationality. He is still disqualified him because his mother, Mercedes Quesada, was a citizen of Spain.

Tensions are definitely are running high in Mexico. One of the PAN latest movies to replicate itself like the US, PAN party members are suggesting that all members of PRD and the PRD party itself be banned. Once again going back to the one-party system, instead of the PRI, it is now PAN. Sure there are several parties, however, with all the alliances that have taken place during the first day in Mexico’s congressional session, they are non-existent, might as well view them as PAN-lite.

One story that has been buzzing in the small Mexico Crisis blogosphere (Via CorrenteWire; dkos diariest, El Cid and Charles of Mercury Rising) is the latest study conducted by Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), which they found:

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has found a significant loss of votes for PAN presidential candidate Felipe Calderón in a sample of recounted ballots.

Adding up the numbers for 1,706 ballot boxes (casillas) shows a loss of 1,362 votes for Felipe Calderón. Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PBT shows a gain of 77 votes.

“This is inexplicably one-sided, with Calderón losing votes but López Obrador not losing any,” said CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot. “It is also a significant percentage of votes in an election this close.”

*Last Monday the TEPJF released the results of its annulment of 237,736 votes; many press accounts mistakenly reported these numbers as the results of the recount, which they were not. The ballot boxes where votes were annulled are not the same as those which were recounted.

This is a very important piece of information. When I wrote about the annullment I too made this mistake. I realized why the numbers did not make sense to me once I saw this post by Charles at Mercury Rising.

A bizarre explanation of how the electoral court reached its verdict, from a program called Con Elisa in Mexico City: If a recount would not change the victor in a particular precinct, the precinct was not annulled. So, if Calderon had 250 votes in a precinct and Obrador had 100 votes and it was discovered that 100 votes were fraudulent, the precinct result would stand. The law would seem to require that the precinct be annulled.

Another source, Garras de Paco Garrido seems to have confirmed that this bizarre logic was used. This purports to be an actual copy of the judicial ruling for the complaint for district 03 of Querétaro SUP-JIN-21/2006 [PDF]… Garras says (paraphrase):

in district 03, they recounted 59 precincts and only in 9 did they rectify the results. Despite the inconsistencies, the judges only annulled two precincts. Under the standards of the TEPFJ, 38 precincts had results that didn’t square, butthe court said

In these precincts, there was some difference between the figures of the basic results, but the difference was smaller than that obtained between the candidates in first and second place in that precinct.

If there was ever need of proof that the events that are currently unfolding resemble the 2000 US Presidential election, this would be it; where as, the US Supreme Court also had to manufacture legal loopholes favoring Dudya. During the 2000 Presidential election the US Supreme Court manufacture a deadline, where they had no choice but to rule against a recount the votes because the time limit had already expired which would have warrented a recount. In Mexico’s case, the reason TEPJF decided toss out whole precincts – where it was undeniably evident that fraud took place (ballot stuffing, destroying the ballots, etc) – was only to confirm the results of original election result instead of confirming massive fraud occurred during the election. In other words, as theBhc points out in the comments section,

the court is saying they will only use the recount to confirm the result. In cases were the recount is discrepant with the result, then the whole presicent is tossed out and ignored.

Thanks theBhc and Charles for pointing this out.

Mexican journalist and anti-AMLO, Lopez Doriga (via dkos participant PatriciaVa), host of TV newscast for Televisa reported, based on his sources, that the TEPJF is divided 4 to 3, and will issue a divided opinion, 4 to 3, in favor of Calderon. According to Doriga, there are 3 justices who would like to annul the Election.

Es la estrategia, cuando en su primer círculo mantienen la esperanza de que prospere la demanda de anulación, proyecto final que ha dividido a los magistrados del Tribunal que anoche se encontraban en un apretado 4-3 a favor de la validez cuando buscan construir una salida unánime.

Lo cierto es que lo que suceda hoy, dentro y fuera del Congreso, influirá en los tonos y tiempos de su movimiento, pero también podría marcar los de la última etapa de la Presidencia de Fox y, de salirse de control, repercutir hasta en el fallo judicial y la transición a la próxima Presidencia.

Once again confirmimg what was reported by People’s Weekly World and Salvador García Soto’s op-ed piece. According Soto the 4 judges who will rule in favor of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa are: Alejandro Luna Ramos, Eloy Fuentes Cerda, Alfonsina Berta Navarro y Mauro Miguel Reyes Zapata.

The current crisis in Mexico can best be captured by a well-known phrase attributed to the former Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so near to the United States.”

To ensure that nothing would go wrong and disrupt Fox from giving his speech, President Fox deployed 6,000 federal riot officers and soldiers to seal off the Mexican Congress and metro stations with miles of steel fence. Riot officers were equipped with water cannons. However, this did not stop protesters from massing a few blocks away.

At the last minute, López Obrador did the right thing by backing down and refusing to give into Fox’s bait and confront the riot policing allowing Fox and the PAN to seize on the opportunity to exploit any clashes between the police and protesters to justify Fox’s brutal repression.

“We are not going to fall into any trap, we are not going to fall into any provocation,” he told the crowd, which had waited through a rainstorm to hear him speak. “Only those who are not in the right resort to force and violence, and we are in the right.”

Although the AMLO and his supporters backed down, legislators from AMLO’s party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), protested inside the chamber of deputies. Moments before President Fox was scheduled to deliver his speech, 126 PRD deputies stormed the stage. Several waved Mexican flags and carried placards calling Mr. Fox “a traitor to democracy.”

President Fox waited backstage wearing his presidential sash, before congress officials from his party, he National Action Party (PAN), informed him it would be impossible for him to speak. Fox handed them the written copy of his speech and stated he was leaving without trying to deliver the address. In the end, the defeated outgoing President was forced to address the nation on television from the presidential residence.

To make matters worse for Fox and the his party, it will be the first time in modern Mexican history that a president failed to deliver the annual speech at the Congress.

Tonight was definitely a major victory for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the PRD, and their supporters. Viva La Huelga!

In a 7-0 ruling, the Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF), Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal, ruled that Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) had failed to prove that the irregularities in many of the polling places did not stem from fraud, nor had he successfully demonstrated that the errors affected him more than his opponent. Once the Mexican electoral tribunal threw out almost every legal challenge from AMLO, the Mexican electoral tribunal stated it had recognized only a minor mathematical and administrative error in the new vote count of the July 2 presidential election.

Once the TEPJF had finished recounting the votes, they determined that AMLO had only gained 4,183 votes after the court annulled 81,080 votes for Felipe Calderón and 76,897 for López Obrador. The tribunal decided that the outcomes of the recount were not enough to overcome Calderón’s margin of victory.

The tribunal has until Sept 6 to issue a final tally and officially name Calderón president-elect. However, between now and the Sept 6 deadline, AMLO still has only one long shot left. TEPJF has yet to rule on one of López Obrador’s challenge, if the court were to find President Vicente Fox and business groups had illegally aided Calderón’s campaign, TEPJF can choose not to certify the election.

Even though it is reported that TEPJF ruled unanimously, Salvador García Soto op-ed piece says differently. Soto writes that the seven-member court was actually divided. Because the TEPJF did not want to be seen as divided as the country, they chose to make their ruling unanimously.

Hasta este fin de semana, las posiciones al interior del tribunal hablaban de cuatro magistrados a favor de la validación de la elección y, por lo tanto, del triunfo de Felipe Calderón Hinojosa: Alejandro Luna Ramos, Eloy Fuentes Cerda, Alfonsina Berta Navarro y Mauro Miguel Reyes Zapata; en tanto que los tres magistrados restantes -el presidente, Leonel Castillo, Fernando Ojesto Martínez Porcayo y José de Jesús Orozco Enríquez, argumentan que hay elementos “suficientes” para no declarar válida la elección.

Loosely translated and with grammatical corrections, it reads -

Until this past weekend, the position inside the court, only four magistrates were in favor of the validating the election. Those who were in favor of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa were Alejandro Luna Ramos, Eloy Fuentes Cerda, Alfonsina Berta Navarro y Mauro Miguel Reyes Zapata. The three remaining magistrates [in favor of AMLO] – the president, Leonel Castillo, Fernando Ojesto Martínez Porcayo y José de Jesús Orozco Enríquez, argued that there were “sufficient” elements not to validate the election.

What is disturbing about this finding, the numbers do not match what was reported made by the Mexican Press, Narco News, and Obrador. It is interesting to note, that a couple of weeks went by after the completion of the recount on Aug 13.

During these two weeks, two versions (PRD and the media) emerged of what happened during the recount. The most that was reported that would be annulled was by Narco News who reported that 126,282 votes altered.

• In 3,074 precincts (29 percent of those recounted), 45,890 illegal votes, above the number of voters who cast ballots in each polling place, were found stuffed inside the ballot boxes (an average of 15 for each of these precincts, primarily in strongholds of the National Action Party, known as the PAN, of President Vicente Fox and his candidate, Felipe Calderón).
• In 4,368 precincts (41 percent of those recounted), 80,392 ballots of citizens who did vote are missing (an average of 18 votes in each of these precincts).
• Together, these 7,442 precincts contain about 70 percent of the ballots recounted. The total amount of ballots either stolen or forged adds up to 126,282 votes altered.

However, TEPJF annulled 157,897 157,977 votes combined for Calderón and AMLO,* more than what was reported. In an interview with Amy Goodman, Mark Weisbrot, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, also felt there was a lack of transparency.

Last week, I wrote that in an interview with the online newspaper, People’s Weekly World, a source inside Mexico’s intelligence services told the World that four of the seven judges on the tribunal “respond to the interests of Calderon” and that “President Vicente Fox was able to pressure the tribunal.”

One of the uphill battles AMLO and his supporters face is convincing people that the court had benn tainted by partisanship because many people have expressed confidence in the 10-year-old TEPJF. Who can blame them, after ruling over 20,000 election cases, TEPJF has ruled against all parties at some time or another. In fact, one of their landmark cases occurred in December 2000 when the Tribunal had annulled a governor’s race in Tabasco in which the PRI candidate had defeated the PRD candidate by 1.11 percent. In a 4-2 rulng, the court ordered a new election be conducted because the tribunal found “grave irregularities” such as vote buying and there was greater coverage produced for the PRI candidate by the state-owned television network.

The two judges who championed for annulling the election were Judges Castillo and Reyes Zapata who argued that citizens should enjoy the right to select their leaders in an equitable contest. The Tabasco ruling is key for TEPJF’s ultimate ruling on this election because charges have been made that there have been enough irregularities – including negative campaigning and alleged governmental interference – to call the election into question. Yet, according to Soto’s op-ed piece, it seems, either Judge Reyes Zapata had a change of heart in his definition of determining “grave irregularities” or his $415,000 salary isn’t large enough to keep him from being bought.

As political tension and uncertainty continue to grip Mexico, its people will have to await for TEPJF’s ultimate ruling – to certify the election or not.

*[Clarification: A total of 237,736 votes were annulled: break down - 81,080 Calderón; 76,897 for AMLO; 63,114 for Roberto Madrazo (PRI-PVEM); 5,962 for Patricia Mercado (Alternativa); 2,743 for Roberto Campa (Panal) and 7,940 for the remaining candidates. Therefore, the 157,977 votes stated in the piece above represented the combined for Calderón and AMLO.]

In Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) fight to demand a recount of Mexico’s July 2 presidential election, Prensa Latina is reporting that Mexico’s “Por el Bien de Todos” coalition is presenting additional proof electoral violations took place. Among the proof to be shown will be broken seals that were illegally opened at the ballot boxes and proof that a “US daily published propaganda favoring ruling candidate Felipe Calderon three days before the election, an incident that violates the Institutional Federal Code and Electoral Procedures in Mexico.”

Mexico’s election is very similar to another famous election and its not the 2000 and 2004 US Presidential election. Guardian Unlimited’s James Galbraith reminds us of the election in the Ukraine, where the favored presidential candidate had claimed fraud in a tight race. It is interesting during that time US defended the right of the citizens for be heard, but this time around, the defender of democracy chooses to defend the Mexican citizens. In fact, Bush went so far to congratulate Calder�n, without waiting for the court to rule.

It seems elections only appear to be democratic throughout the world wherever the US has a strategic interest, such as in Colombia and Peru in 2006 and Iraq and Afghanistan in 2005 which these days means everywhere.

Galbraith points out that the difference between the two elections, in Ukraine it was difficult to know exactly where the fraud took place and in Mexico, it is the opposite. In Mexico, the Mexican electoral authority, known as the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE in its Spanish initials) posted the ongoing count on its website in real time, an initiative called PREP. So the whole world was able to monitor the results or did they?

Soon after the election, López Obrador cited many clear irregularities including manipulating preliminary vote totals, initially never counting 3 millions votes and, hours later, the IFE had to acknowledge the mistake. The results published on the Prep’s website, regarded at that stage as valid by Mexico and the world, were erroneous; 13,921 ballot-boxes, representing more than 3 million votes, had indeed been excluded from the count. The election was still open, and López Obrador had to wait until July 6 when a hard recount would occur. Once again, the IFE declared Felipe Calder�n winner of the recount with a final count being Felipe Calderón with 35.88% and Andrés Manuel López Obrador at 35.31%; a statistical difference of 0.57 points.

What seemed to be a López Obrador victory on July 5, was nothing but an illusion. During the hard count, which López Obrador enjoyed a lead all day, AMLO saw his lead fall to under 0.5 percentage points after 94% of the votes were counted, AMLO with 35.84%, while Felipe Calderon was at 35.35%.

According to La Jornada’s Roberto González Amador, the vote totals don’t match the percentages reported. Amador explains:

Given the just over 15m votes Calder�n was said to have earned, the percentage reported for him, 35.89%, could only be obtained by including invalid ballots in the total reported. If, on the other hand, one takes the overall vote total and the percentage reported for Calder�n as correct, then his total vote must have been substantially less than was reported.

The same is true for AMLO and the other candidates, and there is a total shortfall of over a million votes between what can be justified by the official percentages of the valid votes, and the sum of votes reported. The discrepancy proves nothing, but even if it is only a simple error, it certainly seems to cast doubt over the competence of the count.

This was echoed by one of Mexico’s top statistician, Victor Romero of Mexico’s National University. In a Democracy Now! Exclusive Report, Dr. Romero shows Greg Palast a computer printout how the official tallies matched the exit polls, with challenger López Obrador ahead by 2% all night. It was not until the very end, when several precincts came in for Calder�n by 10-to-1, and then 100-to-1, giving Calder�n the victory.

A Close Shave
“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.”
– Tom Stoppard, 1972

To understand how Calder�n won the next presidential election, it helps to exam the IFE’s website. There seems to be evidence that vote “shaving” has contributed to the election fraud. The pattern has already documented to have helped Calder�n on the IFE PREP totals. Although IFE has declared Calder�n the winner, IFE still refuses to account where it got its current set of numbers.

Evidence #1: Tabasco precinct number 0245
On the PREP system, IFE reported that López Obrador received 203 votes, however, the acta (the signed precinct result) states that López Obrador received 236 votes. A clear reduction of 33 votes from a single ballot box.

PREP result from Tabasco (click to enlarge image):

The “acta” from precinct number 0245:

Evidence #2: State of Mexico precinct number 1019
IFE reported that López Obrador received 88 votes, while the acta reported that López Obrador received 188 votes. A reduction of 100 votes.

PREP result from State of Mexico (click to enlarge image):

The “acta” from precinct number 1019:

Narco News’ Al Giordano provides more evidence on this election phenomenon.

In other districts, there was a pattern of one vote shaved from López Obrador between the acta and the PREP results, or one vote added to Calder�n. Narco News has reviewed similar photos of that phenomenon from Baja California precinct 0105 (62 votes for Obrador, 61 reported), and from Baja California precinct 0548 (190 votes for Calderon, 191 reported).

Here are some others; this report only cites those that we have been able to review via photographs of the original actas: Veracruz precinct 2073: 188 votes for Obrador, 186 reported, two votes disappeared. Morelos precinct 0061: 194 votes for Obrador, 190 reported, four votes disappeared. Mexico City precinct 2411: 139 votes for Obrador, 134 reported, five votes disappeared. Querétaro precinct 0375, ballot box #1: 103 votes for Obrador, 102 reported, one vote disappeared. State of Mexico precinct 0855: 208 votes for Obrador, 197 reported, 11 votes disappeared. State of Mexico precinct 0297: 167 votes for Obrador, 159 reported, eight votes disappeared. Mexico City precinct 0444, ballot box #2: 322 votes for Obrador, 318 reported, four votes disappeared.

It’s All In The Stuffing
“It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.”
– Josef Stalin

Recently, El Universal reported that López Obrador released a video in which an election official in Salamanca, Guanajuato is caught stuffing many ballots into a ballot box. The video captures a man wearing a blue-and-white shirt (PAN’s campaign and logo colors) stuffing one ballot after another into the ballot box. In the Salamanca district, IFE reported that Calderón received 93,062 votes to 23,278 for Obrador. Unfortunately the video is not available online.

In the other video Obrador released, election officials in Querétaro were caught on tape changing the vote tallies to create more votes for its Calderón. Interestingly, PAN does not deny the facts. It simply claims that those cases amounted to normal, allowed, functions by election officials. The public temper rises with every such justification.

With a divided Mexico the Judicial Power Electoral Federation Court (TEPJF in Spanish) is now faced to make a critical decision: a) to count vote by vote, voting stall by voting stall and to eventually recognize Lopez Obrador’s victory; b) validate a fraudulent election declare Felipe Calder�n winner; or c) to declare the process null and void, and organize a new presidential elections, which could mean political and social conflicts in an already divided and fragmented Mexico.

Outside Mexico’s borders it is widely believed Mexico had a clean election and that they have an excellent electoral structure. However, the evidence and the numbers suggest otherwise. The 1.1 million Mexican people who marched through their capital on July 16 are determined to carry that struggle forward until justice is won.

On Sunday, July 30, 2006, between 2 and 3 millions pissed off peasants and workers aligned with the candidacy of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) will take part in the third of a series of informative meetings in Mexico City’s main square, the Zocalo. And to deny then concern is unjust.

AMLO and his supporters are unwilling to yield their contest of the election until a full recount has occurred. At least one member from the TRIFE has indicated that one possible resolution of the current situation would be the annulment of the election.

“In this moment, if National Accion (ed note PAN) continues to reject the opening of ballot boxes, very important decisions are going to be made, vigurous, radical, and absolutely strong actions that leave no doubt that we are not going to permit an imposition. (ed note of the electoral result) The PAN knows, 1988 isn’t 2006, this time the imposition will not pass.

Unlike Al Gore, John Kerry, and the Democratic Party, Andres Manuel López Obrador will not settle for anything less, not when the political stability of the country hangs in the balance.