Weekly Summary August 7-12, 2006

The Recount is almost over… Last weekend the Federal Electoral Tribunal ordered the vote recount of 11, 839 polling stations in 149 districts. The PRD party is still demanding for a full vote-by-vote, polling station-by-polling station recount. The partial recount must conclude this Sunday which is the drop dead deadline – and there is a possibility that the recount will not show radical changes in the final tally. The Tribunal’s judge’s decision will be disclosed only after the 174 complaints have been solved. The process deadline is August 31. But the magistrates must certify the new President by Septebmer 6th. The judges´ decision was criticized by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who repeatedly demanded a recount of ALL the votes cast, and called for more sit-ins and actions such as the symbolic occupation of highway toll booths, banks, the Treasury and Tax ministries and Televisa. Meanwhile, among the different interviews and rallies carried out by Felipe Calderón, his meeting with PAN legislators for the next administration stands out. Calderon held a meeting with recently appointed Senate PAN leader Santiago Creel, (former presidential contender and Minister of Interior) and the PANs representative at the Lower House, Héctor Larios. The Mexico Bank Association harshly condemned sit-ins outside Banamex, Bancomer and HSBC banks. The association is considering filing a suit, said the association’s representative Roberto Aguirre. Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior, Carlos Abascal, said there is no risk of a lack of governance due to actions called by the PRD. Abascal stressed the country should keep its good common sense.

No dead beat government here… In San Luis Potosí, as part of his Indian Week rally, president Vicente Fox inaugurated the electricity supply in Huehuetlán and was “cleansed” against the “evil eye”. President Fox also announced his administration plans to issue 7 billion dollars of locally denominated debt in the local market to pay off foreign debt as a move to reduce foreign debt down to 40 billion dollars by the end of his administration.

Who is paying attention to Oaxaca? And in Oaxaca, during a teacher´s demonstration, there was a violent shoot out in which one person died and two were injured. Also in Oaxaca, after the attack on newspaper Noticias de Oaxaca, the paper filed a suit at the General Attorney´s Office in which they make Ulises Ruiz and government secretary Jorge Franco Vargas responsible for the attack. Oaxaca government spokesman Miguel Ángel Concha Gloria, denied rumors on Ulises Ruiz´s resignation. In turn, the President´s Office spokesman Rubén Aguilar said the teachers conflict in Oaxaca is the local government’s responsibility.
Chipas, the next electoral debacle… In Chiapas, governor PAN candidate Francisco Rojas Toledo and Nueva Alianza´s, Emilio Zebadúa, gave up their candidacies in favour of Antonio Aguilar Bodegas, a PRI-Verde coalition candidate, in order to prevent the PRD candidate from winning. National Action Party leader and Nueva Alianza, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, repeatedly accused current Chiapas governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, of favouring his party´s candidate, Juan José Sabines from PRD. This statement urged Andrés Manuel López Obrador to criticize the alliance of rival parties and said Aguilar Bodegas would act as a “voucher”, so that the PRI acknowledges the results of the presidential election. Lopez Obrador said he would go to Chiapas to give Sabines his support.

Another one beats the rap… In other topics, Mexico´s Supreme Court validated the constitutional rights under appeal of former Mexico City mayor Oscar Espinosa Villarreal, as a response to a suit filed by the Mexico City General Attorney´s office. Villareal was exhonerated by 4 votes against one on the grounds that his status as federal official was above the jurisdiction of Mexico City tribunals and so did not have enough power to carry out actions against him. The decision raised many eye brows. Espinosa will be now allowed to run for public office if he wants to…