Sunday, July 02, 2006

Concerns of Mexico's Presidential Election Sunday

Today Mexican voters will be going to the polls to elect a new president. The contest is very close.

Leading Presidential Candiates:
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 52, Party-Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD
Felipe Calderon, 43, Party - National Action Party or Pan

Note: The mother of Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox's mother passed away Thursday, Mercedes Quesada de Fox was 86.

Mexicans in Florida have different opinions and are divided.
The supporters of Calderon favor the policies of Pres. Fox, who has closer ties and business interests to the U.S. and with President Bush.

Obrador, the liberal, is reaching out to the poor and he is grabbing their attention. However in my opinion, if this candidate is elected we just may have another Venezuela's Chavez.

Mexican Voters in the U.S.
Eligible: About 4.2 million of 10-12 million in U.S.
Registered: 35,763
Top States with Registered Voters:
1) California 13,506
2) Texas 5,812
3) Illinois 3, 603
4) Arizona 1,476
5) Florida 1,132
6) New York 1,107
Source: Federal Electoral Institute, a nonprofit org. in Mexico that coordinates the elections.

A quote from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Of more than 200,000 Mexicans living in the state, nearly 1,200 registered to vote in the election.
Mexicans in Florida and around the world were allowed for the first time to vote in a presidential election. By casting absentee ballots, they will help decide a close race between Calderon, a right to center candidate backed by upper classes, and Obrador, a populist former mayor of Mexico City supported by many poor and working-class Mexicans.

Of course the paper goes on to favor the illegal immigration problem and listed the jobs and the money it brings back into Mexico, blah, blah, blah. however, the article states Mexico's economy is growing at a rate of 4 percent annually.

An added tidbit: Via Sun-Sentinal Mexican court seeks arrest of ex-president
Leader accused of student massacre
MEXICO CITY · A Mexican court has issued a house arrest warrant for former President Luis Echeverria, his attorney told The Associated Press on Friday.The lawyer, Juan Velasquez, said the warrant was based on allegations that Echeverria -- then the interior minister -- orchestrated a 1968 student massacre shortly before Mexico hosted the Olympics. [read more]

More on this story at Breitbart: Mexicans head to the polls in tight race between conservative and leftist

Some 71 million Mexicans were called to vote in a tight race that will decide whether the world's 10th largest economy remains conservative or joins Latin America's leftward trend.
The presidential election was expected to be a neck-and-neck race, with opinion polls giving leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) a razor-thin edge over conservative Felipe Calderon of the ruling National Action Party (PAN). [read more]
*UPDATE* Via Breitbart: Mexico Presidential Race Too Close to Call
Mexico's presidential election was too close to call Sunday, with a leftist offering himself as a savior to the poor and a conservative free-trader both declaring themselves the winner. Officials said they won't know who won for days.

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Moderate Voice - Gateway Pundit - Blue Crab Boulevard - Publius Pundit with more here and here - Wizbang - Mark in Mexico (live blogging) - Americans for Freedom - Sister Toldjah - FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog - High Country Conservative - Diggers Realm - The Dumb Ox - Big Dog's Weblog -