Mexicans vote for new president

GAFES · 07-02-2006, 03:58 PM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans voted for a new president on Sunday, torn between joining a resurgent left-wing camp in Latin America or sticking to pro-business policies and a close alliance with the United States.

In a country crucial to U.S. interests in border security, trade and immigration, polls show an extremely close race between leftist anti-poverty crusader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, and conservative Felipe Calderon from the ruling party.

Lopez Obrador, 52, headed opinion polls by about only 2 points after almost six months of bruising campaigning that split a country still finding its feet with full democracy after seven decades of one-party rule ended in 2000.

The leftist, who rejects comparisons to U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, promises to slash bureaucracy to pay for welfare programs he says will lift millions out of poverty.

"We've done it," shouted some 20 supporters as Lopez Obrador voted near his modest apartment in the capital.

The leftist, looking uncomfortable wearing a black leather jacket in the heat, had to wait in line while the polling station opened an hour late. There were delays at booths around the country.

In the border city of Nuevo Laredo, scores of Mexicans streamed over the Rio Grande from Texas to vote, many seeking a crackdown on drug gang violence that has killed some 1,000 people throughout the country this year.

Former energy minister Calderon, 43, says Lopez Obrador would overspend on ambitious social programs and huge projects like a bullet train from the capital to the U.S. border.

"That could drop us into very serious problems of economic stability," said union employee Mariano Silva, 26, after voting for Calderon in Mexico City's student district.

TIGHT RACE

Another candidate, Roberto Madrazo, lags in third place but his once long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has an electoral machinery famed for getting its supporters out to vote and he may do better than his poll numbers suggest.

Turnout was expected to be reasonably high, at about two-thirds of Mexico's 71 million voters. Voting ends at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT) (0100 GMT on Monday).

Lopez Obrador supporters complain that President Vicente Fox's National Action Party, or PAN, failed to live up to promises to create jobs and alleviate poverty, even though Mexico has one of the region's most stable economies.

"The PAN had its chance but didn't know how to use it," said car mechanic Jose Juan Bautista at a polling station in the poor town of Chalco, near the capital.

Food vendors sold tamales and tacos to people lined up to vote there as the sun rose from behind the snow-capped Iztaccihuatl volcano nearby.

In a country where at least half the population lives on less than $5 a day, Lopez Obrador has won support by promising to give pensions to those over 70 and cut energy prices.

Fox cannot run for office again under Mexican law.

Financial markets are hoping for a Calderon victory but worry that Lopez Obrador, a former Indian welfare officer with a history of organizing protests, might not accept that.

Lopez Obrador is expected to launch a legal challenge and maybe even street demonstrations if he loses by a narrow margin and suspects fraud. There is no runoff in Mexico, so whoever gains the most votes wins the election.

The United States has kept on the sidelines of the campaign, not even hinting at support for any candidate, but Calderon is more in line with U.S. views on politics and business. He would seek foreign investment in energy.

Lopez Obrador says his fight against poverty would curb illegal immigration to the United States by giving Mexicans more reason to stay home.

Voters will also choose a new Congress.

(Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Greg Brosnan)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

GAFES · 07-02-2006, 04:06 PM

My vote is for Lopez Obrador. He will win.

sir-chimp · 07-02-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- After a presidential campaign that exposed Mexico's deep class divisions, voters chose Sunday between a free-spending leftist pledging to put the poor first or a conservative pushing private investment and free markets as the keys to prosperity.

The presidential election is the first since Vicente Fox's stunning victory in 2000 ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. The vote will determine whether Mexico becomes the latest Latin American country to move to the left.

Polls predict a close race between conservative Felipe Calderon of Fox's party and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor. The PRI's Roberto Madrazo was running a distant third, ahead of two minor candidates.

Five governors and both houses of Congress also were being elected.

Officials hoped to announce a winner within hours of the 9 p.m. EDT closing of the last poll, based on a quick count. But they cautioned they would wait if the race was too close.

About 71 million of Mexico's 103 million people are eligible to vote.

Fox showed off his ink-stained thumb after voting across the street from the presidential residence in Mexico City with his wife, Marta Sagahun, and daughter, Ana Cristina Fox. He posed for photos with voters and declared Sunday "a happy day for Mexico."

Mexican law limits presidents to one term, and Fox plans to retire to his ranch in December after his replacement is sworn in.

Accompanied by his two children, Lopez Obrador voted in his middle-class Mexico City neighborhood.

"We did our part, now we just have to wait," he said.

The line there included Armando Juarez, 46, a high school teacher, who said he would vote for Lopez Obrador.

"I believe he represents hope, especially for people with low salaries who are looking for a more egalitarian country," Juarez said.

Madrazo voted in Villahermosa, in the southeastern state of Tabasco, and told a local radio station: "Citizens' trust is the ace up my sleeve."

In the upscale Mexico City neighborhood where Calderon lives, Francisco Avelar, a 61-year-old businessman, waited to cast his ballot.

"I hope that the direction of the country does not change," he said. "I already voted for change six years ago, and now I just want things to continue."

The election capped months of mudslinging and angry rhetoric. Lopez Obrador accused Calderon of catering to the rich, while Calderon warned that Lopez Obrador would put at risk the low-interest loans and other gains that helped swell the middle class during Fox's tenure.

Calderon compared Lopez Obrador to Venezuela's radical President Hugo Chavez, but Lopez Obrador named a conservative economic team that reassured investors, even as he spent his campaign reaching out to the 50 million Mexicans who scrape by on a few dollars a day.

Madrazo painted himself as the alternate to the "radical left and intolerant right." But many questioned how long his party, which suffered infighting and defections during the campaign, would survive past the election.

All three candidates promised to strengthen relations with the United States while opposing increased border security measures unpopular in Mexico, including building more border walls and President Bush's deployment of National Guard troops.

The estimated 10 million Mexicans living in the United States were allowed to vote from abroad for the first time, but the 41,000 ballots they requested were not likely to make much of a difference.

Thousands of those who missed out were heading south Sunday to cast votes at ballot centers set up along the border.

beauty eh ?

tuercas · 07-02-2006, 04:19 PM

i think the winner is going to be Obrador, he has been really succesfull at pointing out the problems with nafta to the peasant population and the problems with industry no thanks to all the cheap CHinese junk coming in from the US.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gafes

Former energy minister Calderon, 43, says Lopez Obrador would overspend on ambitious social programs and huge projects like a bullet train from the capital to the U.S. border.

"That could drop us into very serious problems of economic stability," said union employee Mariano Silva, 26, after voting for Calderon in Mexico City's student district.

Pinche catrin Calderon is the one to talk about overspending, anyone who has taken a trip to Guanajuato and Queretaro states lately will see all the money that poured in no thanks to the PAN regime while predominatedly PRD states like Michoacan are left in the dark ages. Leon, Guanajuato has changed by leaps and bounds with new freeway systems and an expansion to the airport, they even built a freeway from Silao to Guanajuato. Even crappy ass Irapuato got new roads, It is interesting that the new freeway from Irapuato gets cut off at the Michoacan line , You would think it would at least link to the Mexico-Guadalajara expressway in Ecuadureo let alone go alittle bit further to an important city like Zamora. the higway from la Piedad to Zamora is still a crumbling POS.

the high speed train would be nice, the first line is supposed to start here in Nuevo Laredo and go to Mexico city, i would love to be able to ride the train again, specially a modern one, proposals have already been made by swedish and german firms.

Headcoach · 07-02-2006, 04:28 PM

Who ever wins, I hope that they make a big chamge for the people of Mexico. This way, maybe they will stay in there own country. The answers are not here in the US. The Mexican people should fight for the right to have a better country. Left hope that this time the new President will make changes for the better.

Head coach

Miles. · 07-02-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAFES

My vote is for Lopez Obrador. He will win.

Hells yeah. Fascist salutes always get my vote.

ColonialMarine0431 · 07-02-2006, 04:32 PM

You'd be amazed at how little press this has gotten in the States. But NO ALCOHOL SALES ON ELECTION DAY!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Barbaric!!

Headcoach · 07-02-2006, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColonialMarine0431

You'd be amazed at how little press this has gotten in the States. But NO ALCOHOL SALES ON ELECTION DAY!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Barbaric!!

Well, it's getting coverage here in Phoenix. Land of over 3 million Illegals.

Head coach

tuercas · 07-02-2006, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColonialMarine0431

You'd be amazed at how little press this has gotten in the States. But NO ALCOHOL SALES ON ELECTION DAY!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Barbaric!!

the "ley seca"has never a problem for us, we just cross over to Laredo Texas to buy, so you best believe i am going to be swilling some Miller High life when i get home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by milespenhall-texas-

ells yeah. Fascist salutes always get my vote.

this is the roman salute for the pledge of allegiance , it has nothing to do with fascism.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAFES

My vote is for Lopez Obrador. He will win.

normally i would vote PRI because of my union but not this time around, I voted straigth PRD.

khukuri · 07-02-2006, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAFES

My vote is for Lopez Obrador. He will win.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuercas

normally i would vote PRI because of my union but not this time around, I voted straigth PRD.

Nice, Good Luck guys!

regards for you and mexiko

Ezekiel25:17 · 07-02-2006, 07:27 PM

Quote:

All three candidates promised to strengthen relations with the United States while opposing increased border security measures unpopular in Mexico, including building more border walls and President Bush's deployment of National Guard troops.

Probably the only country that encourages thier own citizens to leave. No matter who wins it won't change a thing for the poor Mexicans who view thier only chance at a decent life is north of the border.

Miles. · 07-02-2006, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezekiel25:17

Probably the only country that encourages thier own citizens to leave.

It's pathetic.

Exchanging one corrupt populist government for another. All the while the average citizen has little hope for economic advancement...

GAFES · 07-02-2006, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milespenhall-texas-

It's pathetic.

Exchanging one corrupt populist government for another. All the while the average citizen has little hope for economic advancement...

How can you judge a candidate for president without him being president yet?

what I think is pathetic is re electing a baby killer like Bush.

Ezekiel25:17 · 07-02-2006, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAFES

How can you judge a candidate for president without him being president yet?

what I think is pathetic is re electing a baby killer like Bush.

1960 called and they want their line back.

Now THAT'S pathetic.

I wonder how many Mexican babies were killed do to poverty in Mexico?

GAFES · 07-02-2006, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezekiel25:17

1960 called and they want their line back.

Now THAT'S pathetic.

I wonder how many Mexican babies were killed do to poverty in Mexico?

Mhh i have no idea. Maybe you can start counting how many babies were killed in Iraq by the ''smart bombs''.

07-02-2006, 03:58 PM	#1
GAFES Banned user Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grozny, México. Posts: 1,492	Mexicans vote for new president MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans voted for a new president on Sunday, torn between joining a resurgent left-wing camp in Latin America or sticking to pro-business policies and a close alliance with the United States. In a country crucial to U.S. interests in border security, trade and immigration, polls show an extremely close race between leftist anti-poverty crusader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, and conservative Felipe Calderon from the ruling party. Lopez Obrador, 52, headed opinion polls by about only 2 points after almost six months of bruising campaigning that split a country still finding its feet with full democracy after seven decades of one-party rule ended in 2000. The leftist, who rejects comparisons to U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, promises to slash bureaucracy to pay for welfare programs he says will lift millions out of poverty. "We've done it," shouted some 20 supporters as Lopez Obrador voted near his modest apartment in the capital. The leftist, looking uncomfortable wearing a black leather jacket in the heat, had to wait in line while the polling station opened an hour late. There were delays at booths around the country. In the border city of Nuevo Laredo, scores of Mexicans streamed over the Rio Grande from Texas to vote, many seeking a crackdown on drug gang violence that has killed some 1,000 people throughout the country this year. Former energy minister Calderon, 43, says Lopez Obrador would overspend on ambitious social programs and huge projects like a bullet train from the capital to the U.S. border. "That could drop us into very serious problems of economic stability," said union employee Mariano Silva, 26, after voting for Calderon in Mexico City's student district. TIGHT RACE Another candidate, Roberto Madrazo, lags in third place but his once long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has an electoral machinery famed for getting its supporters out to vote and he may do better than his poll numbers suggest. Turnout was expected to be reasonably high, at about two-thirds of Mexico's 71 million voters. Voting ends at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT) (0100 GMT on Monday). Lopez Obrador supporters complain that President Vicente Fox's National Action Party, or PAN, failed to live up to promises to create jobs and alleviate poverty, even though Mexico has one of the region's most stable economies. "The PAN had its chance but didn't know how to use it," said car mechanic Jose Juan Bautista at a polling station in the poor town of Chalco, near the capital. Food vendors sold tamales and tacos to people lined up to vote there as the sun rose from behind the snow-capped Iztaccihuatl volcano nearby. In a country where at least half the population lives on less than $5 a day, Lopez Obrador has won support by promising to give pensions to those over 70 and cut energy prices. Fox cannot run for office again under Mexican law. Financial markets are hoping for a Calderon victory but worry that Lopez Obrador, a former Indian welfare officer with a history of organizing protests, might not accept that. Lopez Obrador is expected to launch a legal challenge and maybe even street demonstrations if he loses by a narrow margin and suspects fraud. There is no runoff in Mexico, so whoever gains the most votes wins the election. The United States has kept on the sidelines of the campaign, not even hinting at support for any candidate, but Calderon is more in line with U.S. views on politics and business. He would seek foreign investment in energy. Lopez Obrador says his fight against poverty would curb illegal immigration to the United States by giving Mexicans more reason to stay home. Voters will also choose a new Congress. (Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Greg Brosnan) © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

07-02-2006, 04:06 PM	#2
GAFES Banned user Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grozny, México. Posts: 1,492	My vote is for Lopez Obrador. He will win.

07-02-2006, 04:28 PM	#5
Headcoach Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 18	Who ever wins, I hope that they make a big chamge for the people of Mexico. This way, maybe they will stay in there own country. The answers are not here in the US. The Mexican people should fight for the right to have a better country. Left hope that this time the new President will make changes for the better. Head coach

07-02-2006, 04:32 PM	#7
ColonialMarine0431 Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Florida, U.S.A. Posts: 167	You'd be amazed at how little press this has gotten in the States. But NO ALCOHOL SALES ON ELECTION DAY!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Barbaric!!