Depressed

Photo: AFP

While walking around the zoo last night Eduardo and I talked a lot about how sad we are about the Mexican election. I realized just how much I feel a part of Mexico. I don't feel like it is my country- but it is the land of my husband and emotionally more important, of my children.

Writing for Greg Palast's web-site John Buffalo Mahler and Matt Pascarella sum up the election nicely:

Will more candidates with the promise of a new form of Social Democracy start convincing the majority of poor people that another world is possible if they partake in their civic duty of voting? Or will the dominant capitalist democracy of which the 20th century has largely been defined by, continue to reign? Either way, which system fulfills the role of government best? Assuming of course, that one can agree the role of government is to make sure the people who pay taxes are able to live in relative peace and prosperity.

I am anxiously awaiting AMLO's (Lopez Obrador) exit polling data- I assume since he suspected that there would be foul play even before the election he would have hired a reputable polling firm. Greg Palast claims that the same people who were behind stealing Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 are helping out in Mexico. The Bush family has a lot of ties to Mexico and it is very hard for me to believe that they are going to sit back and let someone hostile to American interests (and more importantly our oil interests) become President. Palast claims that exit polls showed AMLO ahead, then just like in Florida and Ohio the actually numbers come back "too close to call", then in the end- surprize! the other candidate wins.
I may sound like a conspiracy theorist, but if I had told you 10 years ago that by the summer of 2006 we would have been occuping Iraq- losing more than 60 American soldiers every month- to a wide spread Iraqi insurgency all because our President lied us into war- I know you all would have thought me completely mad. Compared to invading Iraq showing Mexicans how to switch a few votes here and there seems like not such a big deal.

The press is already treating Calderon like the winner. It is like deja vu all over again. Like Bush in 2000, Calderon is talking like the winner. However, unlike Gore in 2000 AMLO is not passivly saying that he is "waiting for all votes to be counted". The press is of course predicting that AMLO may "stir the masses" if he is not declared the winner- as if all he cares about it winning- not that he wants to make sure that the winner is choosen fairly.