Ricardo's Blog

Despite all the talk, including his own speeches, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador the leftist Presidential candidate seems to be moving on.  Yesterday, Andrés Manuel announced a series of new acts of civil resistance that, among other things, are assuming that Felipe Calderón will be announced President Elect by the Electoral court (TEPJF).  Andrés Manuel might be either trying to keep the force of his movement to continue to be a relevant actor in the national politics or he might be trying to keep the fire burning for making a run at the next election in 2012.  Several analysts have said that for 2012 other left-wing leaders like the Mayor'elect of Mexico City Marcelo Ebrard might be in better shape than Andres Manuel.

The four measures announced by Andrés Manuel are:

1. Mobilization where and when the President Elect certificate to Felipe Caldrón is issued. He calls him "the right-wing candidate".
2. Mobilization on the day of the Adress to the Nation by President Fox.  He calls him "traitor to Democracy".
3. Calls his group to celebrate the "Grito de Independencia" at Mexico City´s Zocalo, a traditional celebration that is hosted by the president right there.
4. He proposes his group to celebrate a meeting on September 16th at the Zocalo to decide the future of the Movement.

The last couple of measures conflict in time and place with national celebrations.  Both celebrations are hosted by the President. The September 16th is the military parade to celebrate Mexico´s Independence.  It will be interesting to see how Fox will maneuver around this hurdles that Andres Manuel is placing in front of him.