Post-Election Mexico: Week 1

We are feeling our way for how to make available information about Mexico's political culture. Last week we published Popo and Presidential Election, which included daily updates in the post's Still Curious? section. Strong traffic to that first post suggested keen reader interest. 

In response, we've decided to publish a weekly review of articles—selected from both U.S.-English and Mexican press (translations)—'giving voice' to this period of transition that will have a profound impact on both our homeland, the United States, and our host country, Mexico. 

Flag of the Republic of Mexico

Mexico's new president will be sworn in the first of December 2012. On July 5, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced the final vote count for each candidate. Under Mexican election law, presidential candidates have until July 12 to present electoral challenges to the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF), which is responsible for validating the election.

Important challenges are being filed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, candidate from the left (the PRD is the most important party of the left). On Monday, José Alejandro Luna Ramos, presiding judge of the TEPJF, said that analysis of the challenges will be carried out until August 31. On September 6, 2012, the tribunal will announce the official record of the winner.

Many Mexicans are nervous, because it is highly likely that the PRI candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, will become president. The PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) maintained a seventy-year hegemony, running the country with an iron fist until it was deposed in 2000 by the PAN candidacy of Vicente Fox. For that reason, many thoughtful Mexicans are doubly skeptical: about the PRI's return to power and of Peña Nieto in the presidential role.

Protests Against Electoral Outcomes Based on Allegations of Vote Buying, Voter Inducement

Many Mexican academics accept the journalist role in order to make their thinking widely available to the Mexican public. For that reason, feature articles tend to be exceptionally thoughtful and well-reasoned.

• Upside Down World published this unusually clear summary of voter fraud and why a recount won't uncover it: Mexico's Election: A Personal Commentary from Oaxaca.  
• Sergio Aguayo, president of Alianza Cívica (Civic Alliance, Mexican civic organization working to develop a functioning democracy in Mexico), On Lopez Obrador's Challenge of Election Result and the Left's Failure to be Prepared; 
• Foreign Policy Journal published John M. Ackerman's article about Mexico's new president: "The Return of the Mexican Dinosaur: Mexico's pretty-boy president is more dangerous than he looks". An insightful, engaging 'read': Highly Recommended.
• Newsweek also published an article by John M. Ackerman: Obama Plays Risky Game in Mexico with Embrace of Enrique Peña Nieto. Good historical context and analysis of impact on US-Mexico relations: Highly Recommended.

#YoSoy132: Mexico Voices [MV] has translated and published many articles about the unexpected rise, inclusiveness and effectiveness of this student movement:

• Associated Press: Students March Against Mexico's Election Result;
• #YoSoy132 Warns: "We Will Become Peña-Nieto's Worst Nightmare";
• For more: Go to MV 'Topics' side bar--Click on #YoSoy132. 

Emerging Role of Mexico's 'Left'

The role of 'loyal opposition' is a critical component of any viable democracy. For that reason, a lot of attention is being given not only to analyses of how the left conducted the presidential campaign, but to how the left is going to perform its new role as a second major force in the Mexican Congress. Following are articles both from the U.S. and Mexican press (translations by Mexico Voices):

• Washington Post, In Mexico City, the left extends its reign; 
• Deceitful role of Mexican pollsters and the primary challenge facing Mexico's Left as it assumes  opposition role: Mexico Elections: Legitimacy, Legality and Challenge;
• Specific challenges facing the PRD: Mexico Elections: The Double Triumph of the Mexican Left; 
• On the Left's Being the Opposition by Marta Lamas, anthropologist and feminist activist in Mexico; one of the founders of La Jornada (leading Mexican newspaper) and a leader in the women's rights movement;
• Mexico Elections: Shades of gray and black by Savina Berman, playwright and intellectual; 
• Mexico Elections: Hell Wins, by Javier Sicilia, poet-activist and founder of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.

Enrique Peña Nieto

• For more about Enrique Peña Nieto and his advisers: Mexico Elections: Peña Nieto's "Small, tight" Team; 
• Huffington Post: Mexico Drug War: Enrique Peña Nieto Could Target Small Gangs; 
• New York Times Business Section: Numbers Tell of Failure in Drug War. "It's not good for business" seems to be the magic formula these days—making way for cautious, very cautious, optimism;
• New York Times Editorial: Mexico Elects a New President; 
• Enrique Peña Nieto Savors Long-Plotted Victory in Mexico by Randal C. Archibald, New York Times Bureau Chief for Mexico, Central America Caribbean; 
• Letter by Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico's Next Chapter; 

A cautionary note: Old English sayings warn, "Many's the slip 'twixt cup and lip", and "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Mexico has a similar saying, "There's a split between rhetoric and reality...." Mexican politicians are famous for eloquent phrasing of lofty ideals, but short on the actions needed to implement those ideals.

• July 6, 2012: Amnesty International's response to Peña Nieto's letter, Tasks for Mexico's Leader.