Lopez Obrador declared "Presidente"

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens flooded into Mexico City's central plaza, or Zocalo, to form a National Democratic Convention [some estimated the crowd had over a million people]. The convention then declared Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to be President of Mexico, and set the date for his inauguration as November 20th, 10 days before Felipe Calderon's inauguration on December 1st. The convention also authorized Lopez Obrador to set up a government to challenge Calderon. They hope to prevent Calderon from taking office.

Lopez Obrador spoke to the crowd saying, "I accept the charge of President of Mexico. We don't act out of capriciousness. We act out of dignity. We want a truly just society, built on the base of a true democracy. For the good of all, but first the poor."

The Mexican tribunal that oversees elections had declared Lopez Obrador the loser in the recent election despite admitting widespread election violations. They refused to order a recount, even though the "winning" margin was less than 1% out of over 40 million votes.

Rather than dying down as many officials had hoped, it looks like the opposition to Calderon's flawed election will continue. The electoral tribunal made a serious mistake in validating this election. In an election this close, with a multitude of election irregularities, a recount should have been conducted. In blocking the recount, the tribunal has just made it appear as though the election was stolen, and maybe it was.

If you would like to know more, Para Justicia y Libertad! provides excellent coverage and intelligent insights on the Mexican election.