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Lopez Obrador calls for more protests

Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters Sunday that he would step up his civil disobedience campaign, starting with a mass rally Monday in front of the elections tribunal that rejected his demand for a national recount.

“Do you all agree that we take this assembly to the tribunal?” Lopez Obrador asked the protesters, who have camped for a week on the capital’s central square and along nearly 5 miles of Paseo de la Reforma, the main boulevard.

“There, we’ll ask the tribunal judges to rectify their decision and to accept opening up all the ballot boxes and counting all the votes,” he said. “It’s for the well-being of the nation and of all Mexicans.”

The crowd cheered.

Lopez Obrador alleges that Mexico’s July 2 presidential election was tainted by fraud and errors. He has demanded a recount of all 41 million votes cast after apparently losing by less than 1 percentage point.

But Saturday, the seven-judge panel unanimously agreed to order only a partial recount–9 percent of polling stations in 26 states — because of apparent arithmetic mistakes or other irregularities. That will mean a recount of several million votes by next week.

The election apparently was won by Felipe Calderon, who belongs to President Vicente Fox’s National Action Party. Lopez Obrador supporters, unhappy with the Fox administration, had sought more help for the poor and unemployed in the next six-year presidential term, which begins Dec. 1.

Millions of people crossed the border into the United States when Fox failed to deliver on promises of expanding the economy and creating new jobs.

After leading in polls for most of the campaign and jamming town squares with supporters during his cross-country appearances, many followers could not believe he lost. And neither could he.

Lopez Obrador engineered a “Vote by Vote” campaign to force a recount that nearly half the country, according to polls, believes is a reasonable demand. A week ago he cranked up pressure on the tribunal with the takeover by protesters of the Zocalo and Reforma, which runs through the heart of the capital.

After enduring a week of camping on the street and nightly rainstorms, many protesters waiting for Lopez Obrador to appear at Sunday’s rally were angry over the tribunal’s decision.

Some chanted, “airport, airport,” calling for a blockade of streets surrounding Mexico City’s international airport. Others called for a takeover of the congressional building or the National Palace. Some suggested a boycott of businesses allegedly in league against Lopez Obrador.

For a few minutes, the rally had the trappings of a town hall meeting.

Jesusa Rodriguez, an actress coordinating entertainment at the street camps, responded to the calls for more dramatic actions against the government from the giant stage set up in the Zocalo.

“Violence is the easy way; that’s what they use,” she said over the massive public address system. “We have to use our heads. … In peaceful civil resistance, people have to ask, `What is the best idea?’ … You have to think of consequences.”

Later in the day, she asked the protesters to form a human chain, linking hands from the Zocalo to the far end of the camps on Reforma.

When Lopez Obrador finally took the stage, two hours after the rally was to begin, he covered familiar themes: The election was corrupt, the government is corrupt and the future of Mexico is at stake. Then he asked the crowd to support a rally in front of the tribunal offices.

“To my adversaries,” he said, “there is no need for overkill, to call the army. We’ll gather in a peaceful manner.”

Even so, it was not good news for residents of the capital, where traffic has been at a standstill because of the protesters. Now, thousands of them, or tens of thousands, will travel to the south of the city during Monday’s late-afternoon commute.