In light of our North American celebration today (Happy Canada Day!), I wanted to bring a little attention to our friends south of the border and the elections happening today. It is widely expected that Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) will win against the number two candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Progressive Movement Coalition and who narrowly lost to Felipe Calderón in a hotly contested election in 2006. Two other candidates, seen trailing, are Josefina Vazquez Mota (National Action Party) and the long shot Gabriel Quadri (New Alliance Party).
Peña Nieto is being positioned as the new face of the PRI which held power from 1929 until 2000 when Vincente Fox ended its rule because the public was hoping for change from a party that was known to have rigged elections, colluding with criminals and collecting bribes. But, while the economy in Mexico has been growing over the past decade, not many people have seen their lives improving. The ever-growing violence from the drug cartels which has taken more than 55,000 lives since 2006 has also taken a toll. Most fear that this election will not change anything.
However, there is a bright spot that developed when Peña Nieto decided to take his dog and pony show campaign to visit the students at the Ibero-American university in Mexico City. It is a university with mainly upper-middle class students, which made Peña Nieto feel that it was a welcoming venue because he was expecting them to clap along and be supportive. Not so much.
He arrived to a large group of students protesting a case where Peña Nieto had used police force to stop a riot which incurred human rights violations. Peña Nieto retreated and the protesters were widely dismissed by the media establishment as not being real students or being planted by the opposition parties
In response the 131 students who were there posted a video on YouTube, outraged at not being represented, and showed their student IDs on the video as proof that they were indeed there. A Twitter / social media movement was born with masses of people joining in saying that they are Student #132 (YoSoy #132).
The movement has been extremely successful and demanded that a second presidential debate be broadcast nationally and even a third debate, which was held but without Peña Nieto, who rejected it on grounds that it would not be impartial. It has thrown into the spotlight a media that is also not only bought by the government but also terrorized by it. Please do take a listen to this amazing episode of On The Media. It talks about so many of the issues facing journalists in Mexico today. Also, here is an interesting article in the Huffington Post about YoSoy132 and the media blackout in Mexico.
Moreover as was mentioned by our own BadKarma yesterday, there is a current media blackout there of all major US news stations. There is also a ban on alcohol that started yesterday. A quick Google search doesn’t bring up anything about this specifically but if anyone knows something, please share.
