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Mexico ciil resistance begins by leftists Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-07-17T195925Z_01_N17329391_RTRIDST_0_MEXICO-ELECTION-UPDATE-1-PICTURE.XMLhttp://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-07-17T195925Z_01_N17329391_RTRIDST_0_MEXICO-ELECTION-UPDATE-1-PICTURE.XML
UPDATE 1-Mexico's 'civil resistance' to begin this week
Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:59 PM ET
(Adds Calderon quotes 7-8)
MEXICO CITY, July 17 (Reuters) - A campaign of civil resistance by leftists to force a recount in Mexico's disputed election will start this week, their leader and presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.
Lopez Obrador announced at a huge demonstration on Sunday that his followers will take up civil resistance but he has refused to offer details of what actions they will carry out, other than to say they will be peaceful.
"As of today, we will work out the plan and what I can say is that the first civil resistance actions will begin this week," he told a left-wing radio station.
Lopez Obrador lost the July 2 election to conservative Felipe Calderon by some 240,000 votes, out of over 41 million cast and claims widespread fraud.
An electoral court is studying complaints by Lopez Obrador that there were huge irregularities in the original count, and a later recount of tally sheets. The court must declare a winner of the election by Sept. 6.
Calderon, a former energy minister, dubbed Lopez Obrador "a danger for Mexico" in TV ads during the campaign but he was conciliatory on Monday.
"I repeat my invitation to sustain and strengthen the dialogue that allows us to define and decide the Mexico we want for our children," he told a meeting of religious leaders.
"Peace is built with the efforts of everyone. It demands abiding by the law," he said.
Lopez Obrador, who wants a vote-for-vote recount, has a long history of leading protests.
As a local politician in his native state of Tabasco in the 1990s he blocked oil wells and encouraged tens of thousands of people not to pay energy bills to protest alleged vote fraud and environmental damage by the Pemex oil company.
Senior aide Ricardo Monreal said the latest civil resistance campaign would remain within the law.
"What's the limit?" he said. "The limit is the law. We are not going to do anything against the rule of law."
Sunday's march, along several miles of city streets, ended without any clashes or destruction of property, despite fears that the protests could get out of hand.
Calderon has flatly opposed a vote-for-vote recount but a top aide suggested he would approve of it if the Trife electoral court ordered one.
"We would accept any mandate from the Trife," advisor Josefina Vazquez Mota told Reuters.
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