Tens of thousands protest Mexico presidential election results

By Anne SewellJul 23, 2012

Mexico - Accusing President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of electoral fraud, around 32,000 protesters marched through Mexico City on Sunday.

The protest was organized by the #YoSoy132 student movement, and was organized to protest the “imposition” of the new president.

They marched through Mexico City, claiming Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) secured the election through vote-buying and also through an aggressive PR campaign through major media outlets.

Protesters carried placards reading, "Winning by cheating is not winning at all and is illegal", or "You launder money, we are cleaning our consciences."

Video screen capture  Protesters in Mexico City on July 22, 2012

One protester, Marlem Munoz, 26, said, "Mexico didn't vote for fraud. Mexico wants a country that is honest and democratic. What happened in the elections was a total mockery directed at the Mexican people."

Luis Marinez, a 25-year-old engineering student from Mexico City, told Reuters, "The people have woken up. The people realize that the PRI violated the elections."

According to protesters, the country's TV station Televisa is a "factory of lies." Protesters state that Televisa was very well paid for coverage of Nieto's presidential campaign. Televisa has denied all allegations.

Enrique Pena Nieto, 46, is a member of the old ruling party. He won the election with 38.2% of the vote, against 31.6% for the opposing leftist candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

As reported on Digital Journal, the results of the election bring back the PRI to power, after being in the opposition for 12 years. In third place was the ruling President, Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party.

Video screen capture Protesters in Mexico City on July 22, 2012

Opponents of Nieto are demanding urgent domestic reforms. In turn, the PRI is accusing the losing leftist candidate, Obrador, of "disqualifying the entire electoral process with lies."

Local authorities say that the demonstration on Sunday gathered 32,000 people. However, the protesters claim that their number was twice as large. This is the second demonstration since the July 1 elections, with the first rally on July 7 gathering 50,000 protesters.

The Federal Electoral Tribunal is set to certify the final results of the elections in September. Some political movements are urging its supporters to disregard the inauguration of the new president, which is set for December 1.

The PRI ruled Mexico at one time for 71 years. Party critics say that those years were marked with nepotism, corruption and multiple cases of voter fraud.

Source: Digital Journal

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