Mexico’s Critical Moment (from International Relations Center)

Mexico’s Critical Moment
By Laura Carlsen, IRC

Since the start of Mexico´s presidential campaigns, the race has opened up latent but profound fissures in Mexican society. The present post-electoral conflict not only hinges on legal issues of how the elections were run. It brings to the fore deep concerns about transparency, social justice, and the future course of a nation at a critical juncture in its fledgling transition to democracy.

The post-electoral conflict reached a higher pitch this week as round-the-clock encampments were installed in Mexico City’s central square and surrounding streets. Supporters of center-left presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador have vowed to remain in the camps until the Federal Electoral Court rules for a full recount of the votes.

Laura Carlsen directs IRC's Americas Program, www.americaspolicy.org, from Mexico City, where she has worked as a political analyst for two decades.

See new IRC article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3404

With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/columns/0608critical.pdf