Lopez Obrador claims constitutional authority, calls "National Democratic Convention" (Translation)

eluniversal.com.mx ^ | August 15, 2006 | Jorge Ramos ( translated by self )

[StJacques]

AMLO Summons a National Democratic Convention

The PRD member evokes Article 39 of the Constitution to affirm that the people are the only ones who can change the government; he recalls the "Ayala Plan," signed by Emiliano Zapata.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched his call for a "National Democratic Convention For the Good of All," with its basis in Article 39 of the Constitution, to be held the 16th of September in the Zocalo capital square [in Mexico City].

The PRD member read said constitutional precept aloud and recalled that therein it is indicated that national sovereignty resides in the people and that all power emanates from the people as well, therefore they are the ones who can change the government.

The Tabasqueño¹ said that the "Ayala Plan" was also initiated thus on the part of Emiliano Zapata.²

In point of fact, he began the signing of said announcement and recalled that which Zapata said at the summons to the "Ayala Plan": "Let he who has no fear pass to sign it."

As members of the organizing commission he designated Jose Agustin Ortiz Pinchetti, the actress Jesusa Rodriguez, PRD member Rafael Hernandez, Deputy [of the lower chamber] Socorro Diaz, Senator-elect of the Convergencia³ Dante Delgado, Labor Party member Gonzalo Yanez, the writer Helena Poniatowska, and businessman Fernando Schute.

"The objective of the convention, he indicated, has as its fundamental proposition to decide with the representation of all the people of Mexico the document they will assume faced with the present circumstances," Lopez Obrador read.

Tomorrow Lopez Obrador will not lead his daily "informative assembly," because he will go to Chiapas to the closing of the campaign of Juan Sabines, [PRD] candidate for the governorship of that state. Dante Delgado will be in his place.

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Translator's Notes:

¹Lopez Obrador is from the Mexican state of Tabasco, on the Gulf Coast.

²This evokes the image of Emiliano Zapata and his Plan de Ayala, a radical proposal for land reform in the Mexican Revolution that had deep roots in Anarchist thought.

³The Convergencia refers to the "Convergence for Democracy," one of the leftist parties in alliance with Lopez Obrador's PRD in the "For the Good of All" coalition supporting his presidential candidacy.

[StJacques]

Here is the key quote:

"The objective of the convention, he indicated, has as its fundamental proposition to decide with the representation of all the people of Mexico the document they will assume faced with the present circumstances."

That sounds as though Lopez Obrador is declaring the revolutionary intent to rewrite the Mexican Constitution by mob action, rather than within the framework of Mexico's institutions.

I'm trying not to hit the panic button, but this really does look dangerous to me.

[thoughtomator]

It really does seem as if he is intent on starting a civil war down there, doesn't it?

[StJacques]

A Mex-Elex ping for you all.

Anyone wishing to track other translated articles can do so using the forum's "keyword search" option with the unique keyword "STJTRANSLATION"

[BunnySlippers]

I agree. I believe he wants revolution. They are not going to be happy until they have their little Chavez.

[StJacques]

Yes; it really does thoughtomator. I wish I could say differently, but he does not intend to accept defeat in this election, even though the partial recount shows very clearly that he did lose.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Typical leftist. If you can't win a legitimate national election you start a revolution.

[Antoninus]

Mexico's long overdue for a revolucion anyway. That Chiapas thing didn't cut it.

God help them!

[freedumb2003]

Thanks again, SJ!

[NormsRevenge]

Obragore needs to be arrested... but Vicente doesn't have the cahonies..

[Enterprise]

"I'm trying not to hit the panic button, but this really does look dangerous to me."

Here, you can borrow mine for now if you need one. It's new because I wore out my old one.

[GeronL]

wow... this is almost FR Breaking News worthy... it definitely will be if they carry out the threats

[buwaya]

Yes indeed. This is not good.

[Taylor42]

When this gets messy I wonder how they're going to blame it on the gringos to the north???

And will he stir up trouble here?

[rovenstinez]

When things begin to unravel, and people in the industrious north cities stop paying their taxes to Mexico City, with the loss of revenue Mexico City is facing now with tourism, newspapers reported close to 1,000 people laid off, related to the protests, when the money stops coming down the pipes, they'll be in sore WANT, and need to find an attitude to negotiate. About 90% of the hollering and carrying on is done by the rascals in Mexico City that never were happy with a President..ever.

[StJacques]

Are you tempting me to go ahead and hit it Enterprise? LOL!

I might start a panic on the Mexican stock exchange.

[StJacques]

rovenstinez;

What are people saying about this? Isn't this alarming to anyone? It looks really dangerous to me.

[msnimje]

He is going to name Cindy Mac his vice-president.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

It really does seem as if he is intent on starting a civil war down there, doesn't it?

Leftists do what they are allowed to get away with.

[conservative in nyc]

What's ObraGore going to change the constitution to say? The second-place candidate wins all Presidential elections in close races?

AMLO lost. He should get over it. But like all "good" leftists, he can't.

[A CA Guy]

Good excuse IMO for the Mexican government to jail or accidentally kill him.

[burzum]

This man is trying to start a civil war! Good grief!

[Stultis]

Fah! (I bet there's a few in Mexico who have half a mind to say...) Let the commies re"draft" the Constitution by mob rule. The prosperous, capitalist northern states can then just secede and let the parasites suck each other dry.

[longtermmemmory]

This is what algore tried to do in 2000. Kerry was PREPARED to do in 2004 AND what the young mobs do in france when they protested a law which actually required them to work.

Mexico is unstable and yet we have no protection on our border.

[rovenstinez]

In Mexico it's a way of life. Squatters have always been camped out at the Zocalo, Calle Lopez was shut down by the Trique Tribe of Indians. They had homes in Oaxaca, but wanted a home in Mexico City and a market to sell their weavings. They camped in the street, and got what they demanded. Thousands of people who brought cars into the country demanded that they get 'tags', and gov't has developed a policy of giving oil to the wheels that screeched. Power was never in contracts, agreements, treaties, charters, signed papers or law, it was in the ZAPATA on his horse. AMLO on his lst night likened himself as unto Higaldo. So if the PEOPLE think that they are 'more', no matter what agreements or promises to pay loans, or keep their word, anything can be annulled by the voice of the mob. People in Mexico generally don't trust police. This ball could bounce either way. But to put the glove on AMLO's hand, he was Governor of Mexico City, and not much was seen in terms of stopping corruption. When they paid 7 million dollars for Rudy Gulianti to come to town and talk about ZERO Tolerance, he wasn't allowed to bring in his trainers to teach police to enforce 100% of the law, 100% of the time. Everyone knew that the police didn't make enough in wages to feed their families, and would need to collect some of their own bribes and revenues on the side. The problem didn't start with the election, there is a lot of interest groups that know that if they loose power, they'll loose their source of livelihood.

[StJacques]

"Fah! (I bet there's a few in Mexico who have half a mind to say...) Let the commies re"draft" the Constitution by mob rule. The prosperous, capitalist northern states can then just secede and let the parasites suck each other dry."

Stultis, if you'll read rovenstinez's post #14 above you'll see that there are some in Mexico saying exactly that right now.

[BarbaricGrandeur]

I'm trying not to hit the panic button, but this really does look dangerous to me.

It is. No democratically justified constitution can withstand such attacks if they are concerted; not without relying on an authority beyond the will of the people. The internal logic of democracy would be compromised. Said constitution would lose, by denying the authority of the people, its own; which is based on the former.

Because the rule of law is obviously not compatible with the rule of the mob only in a few examples does democracy not lead to ideological revolutionary governments. And because there is no organic solution to the conflict between law and popular will other than one of cultural tradition (though, looking at recent American political trends we can see how week even that is), one of these rules will endeavor to make itself absolute over the other.

[StJacques]

". . . This ball could bounce either way. . . ."

That is not comforting. I'm hoping for the best for you all rovenstinez.

[StJacques]

". . . Because the rule of law is obviously not compatible with the rule of the mob only in a few examples does democracy not lead to ideological revolutionary governments. And because there is no organic solution to the conflict between law and popular will other than one of cultural tradition (though, looking at recent American political trends we can see how week even that is), one of these rules will endeavor to make itself absolute over the other."

That is profound BarbaricGrandeur. You should bottle that and save it for a rainy day.

[OldArmy52]

What I want to know, is if Gore reruns for Prez and loses again, will he do this?

[Shuttle Shucker]

Meanwhile, it would seem that now NOBODY is betting on his chances for ultimate victory:

[ChipShot]

If it really was time to panic, I do not think we would see the peso getting stronger and the Bolsa (Mexico's stock exchange) rising as it has the past few days. Nor would the numbers of protesters be going down.

I see haggard, unshaven AMLO with spittle flying from his lips, standing in the city square 4 years from now holding a "Vota por Vota" sign and accepting propinas from American Democrats wanting to get their picture taken with him.

At least I can hope.

[GeronL]

Hillary will. She might have marches in major cities across the country organized on election night to declare the election "fraudulent" and ACORN and other groups would love to start riots on her behalf I am sure.

[GeronL]

Yes. Imagine a million "refugees" coming into the border states.

[StJacques]

I am aware of the strength of the Mexican peso and the Bolsa as well, so there is reason to remain optimistic.

But there are some very strong factors tending to disorder as well. The state of Oaxaca has become "ungovernable" for all intents and purposes, following the dissolution of order that began with a teacher's strike in May and their ensuing insistence that the blatantly corrupt PRI Governor of the state step down. Chiapas has continued to exhibit instances of violent reprisal against some of the truly landless rural poor and it's only in slightly better shape than Oaxaca. And then there are the petroleum and electricity workers unions who fear the reforms Calderon and PAN intend to bring to modernize those industries and end their "job factory" relevance to the Mexican economy. If you put all of those together and couple it with the fact that Lopez Obrador's PRD has control over the Federal District Government in Mexico City, whose Governor today warned of conflict with the federal government over the exercise of police power in Mexico City, you will see that there are good reasons to fear what AMLO may do.

But make no mistake about it, I hope you're right.

[expatpat]

Loserman Lopez, like most socialists, has trouble listening to the voice of the people when it disagrees with what he thinks it should say.

[Reverend Bob]

Yes, it does look dangerous. Hopefully it will seal his doom as well. I can't believe that either Fox or Calderon will let this go on much beyond beyond the finalization of the election results. Rioting and unrest seem likely, but it looks like the government is safe and that the vast majority of Mexicans will be happy to see this guy crushed when the time comes. He got thirty-some percent in the election. I'm guessing (from your posts) that his support is much weaker now. The real question is whether the PRD, and the Mexican hard-left, can survive this debacle.

[Maelstorm]

They won't be happy till we have to invade Mexico again.

[justa-hairyape]

Loserman Lopez, like most socialists, has trouble listening to the voice of the people when it disagrees with what he thinks it should say.

Interesting that there is potentially a major personality quirk that is common between post modern leftist totalitarians and Islamic fascists (other then their obvious reactionary responses to modern progress). Neither groups will admit or accept defeat easily. We have Hezbollha fascists who: lost control of their own airspace; lost control of South Lebanon; lost most of there structures to air raids; lost some of their leaders; caused the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure; and yet they still deny being defeated and have claimed victory. Same psychological condition applies to leftist politicians in the west (Gore, Obrador) and east (Russian Chekist). As a matter of fact the US leftist democrats even think they can run the congress and senate while their are minorities.

So we have a common mental dysfunction between both halves of the Unholy Alliance.

[ASOC]

Any of the usuall sign of police/Army mobilization?

[StJacques]

As best as I can see ASOC, the Mexican federal government is trying to play the entire Lopez Obrador protest movement down, but this particular challenge is quite new -- it was just put up at 8:19 p.m. Central Time -- and there has been no official response as of yet. The Federal Preventive Police have come out in force to keep the protestors off the grounds of the national legislature, where they have planned to disrupt Vicente Fox's scheduled September 1 address to the Mexican people, which is something similar to the "State of the Union" address our President gives every year. But I do expect to see some kind of commentary from President Fox in this regard, as well as an extension to many of the prominent political players in Mexico.

I'll keep an eye on it and notify the board when I see anything significant.

And by the way, September 16 is Mexico's El Grito de la Independencia, Mexico's true "Independence Day," though they also celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a similar fashion. Basically the 16th of September is the celebration of their independence from Spain and Cinco de Mayo celebrates their great victory over the French in 1862. Lopez Obrador is obviously "working the calendar" to select a day when there will be lots of people in Mexico City to boost attendance at his planned "convention."

[ASOC]

Thanks

My folks still live on the border, I would like to give them a heads up if something is going to pop. Always nice to take a vacation....

[StJacques]

". . . Rioting and unrest seem likely, but it looks like the government is safe and that the vast majority of Mexicans will be happy to see this guy crushed when the time comes. . . ."

I think you just gave the "preview of coming affairs" if I may put it that way Reverend. It is sad that AMLO is going to lead his followers on a common path of martyrdom, because they have nothing to gain -- excepting AMLO's desire to remain the focus of messianic idol-worship -- and so much to lose. But in the end the consensus of Mexican opinion will come down as you have described it. Fox and his administration have shown what I consider to be remarkable restraint and, in light of that, once the decision is finally made to strike back, the overwhelming majority of the Mexican people will stand by their government, even though there may be both a regional and class character to that support.

But what a tragedy we may have to watch. There are few things that get uglier than political violence and AMLO and his supporters are determined to either be given what they demand or force the issue outside of the law.

I'm going to go back to my university studies in Weberian analysis in political science and point out that there is a difference between overthrowing the regime, which we all have the right to do in a democracy, and overthrowing the state, a right which none of us possesses. Lopez Obrador and his followers are discussing the overthrow of the state and the portents for the future are most ominous as a result. It's so sad.

[Reaganez]

I think this whole "panic situation" is a bit overblown.

This is not 1920's Mexico nor 19th century Mexico.

As much as some people, through pure ignorance or willful ignorance, seemed determined to portray Mexico as a piss poor shithole.

It is not.Mexico is not Bolivia,nor worse, some failed African State. The Mexican State is strong and Mexico is a middle income country not a "poor" country.

Looking at Mexican television,reading Mexican newspapers, and talking to Mexican relatives there is not a real sense of national crisis, a sense that chaos/revolution is on the cusp.

This is a transitory political crisis.Yes, more serious than Florida 2000 but not like recent events in Bolivia,Ecuador,or Venezuela.

Despite the PRD's attempts to nationalize the matter it is largely a Mexico City affair. The Oaxaca situation is really limited to a small radicalized group of teachers and will be settled IMO within the first six months of the Calderon administration. Fox has retirement on his Guanajato ranch already in mind and does not care to get involved.

[StJacques]

Well I certainly hope you're right about the "panic situation" being overblown, but I will point out that I do see Mexico as a much more modernized nation than most here at FR and I have never bashed the country.

But I also know that many who are in the Mexico City area are genuinely concerned that they are on the verge of a true crisis situation breaking out. We even have one poster here, rovenstinez, who is there now and he is pointing to genuine fears many have. It is all over the newspapers in Mexico City and elsewhere; Reforma, El Universal, La Crónica de Hoy, and many others have both reported and editorialized -- and I think some of the editorials are especially important, Ezra Shabot and Sergio Sarmiento of Reforma have been especially alarmed at AMLO -- on the possibility of the ingobernabilidad del pais. Fox himself has recently been asked questions about what the conditions are under which he will resort to the use of the army -- he refused to answer -- and the fact that he is now calling Federal Police into action is not something that can be ignored.

More than anything else I am looking at the Left under AMLO's leadership. I know the Latin American Left outside of Mexico very well and what has been particularly unusual about this particular presidential campaign is that for the first time in a long time the Left in Mexico has formed and maintained close ties with the Left in larger Latin America. Venezuelan and Bolivian activists working for AMLO were kicked out of the country and Chavez came back at Fox in public statements after that; Cuban "diplomats" were recalled to Havana at the request of the Fox government for their activism in AMLO's campaign, and money came flowing in to the PRD from elsewhere in Latin America, something that has never happened before on this scale. When you add into that the fact that AMLO has been able to turn out crowds 800,000 strong as recently as four weeks ago, you've got something quite real on your hands.

I have not been trying to spread any word that this is happening because I see Mexico as immature. Just earlier today I was explaining how sophisticated they were in fact. But I do see real dangers in AMLO that must be contained and I am not certain that the solution to the problem he represents has yet been found.

[Texan5]

It looks as though Obrador and his faction are delusional-I agree with those who predict that when the loss of tourist dollars pinches harder, he will get a smackdown. I just hope no one gets hurt in the meantime.

I talked to my cousin who works for a hotel chain last night, and she said her boss told her they are not as booked as they should be at this time of year, even allowing for higher fuel prices.

[MattinNJ]

One of the unfortnate by-products of the WOT is that we have not paid enough attention south of our border. Lula in Brazil, Chavez, Argentina, Chile, etc...have all lurched left. Uibe is doing a great job in Columbia but we cut our aid to him ostensibly because of our expenditures on the WOT.

[StJacques]

That's an interesting comment you made about Uribe. Do you know that the DEA has credited Uribe with breaking the drug cartels in Colombia -- and this does not include the FARC who are an army unto themselves -- into smaller organizations that focus on production of cocaine almost exclusively now, and which no longer operate extensive worldwide distribution networks? The DEA also says that, unfortunately, Mexican drug operations have stepped in to take care of the distribution now, but that's something the Colombians cannot effectively stop given that those contacts are so very low profile as to be nearly unseen.

A couple of weeks ago I posted in a discussion pertaining to the recent successes of the Left in Latin America that I see only three countries in which there is a powerful Left wing within national politics and where the Right wing has shown the balls to stand up to the Left; Colombia, Nicaragua, and Mexico. That's not a long list and it's one of the reasons why what is going on in Mexico right now is so very important for the larger political landscape in Latin America.

[Kozak]

It really does seem as if he is intent on starting a civil war down there, doesn't it?

Sure is a good thing we don't have any kind of wall or barrier on the border. /sarc

[Kozak]

The Mexican State is strong and Mexico is a middle income country not a "poor" country.

Maybe because they have shipped the poorest 10% of Mexico to the US?

[MattinNJ]

I am afraid we are fighting a two front war. You are right, Mexico is critical-especially because of the oil.