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Presidential Elections - By Emilly Hogge Guest blogger traveling in Morelia, Mexico.
One thing that I find pretty fascinating about Mexico at the moment is its politics. The Sunday that I arrived were the presidential elections, and from what I gather, the results still have not been decided. The candidates were only a percentage point or so apart in the votes they received, and therefore there has been some question as to who actually won. Just looking on the BBC website now, I see that one of the candidates is claiming fraud, that there were electoral irregularities (and thus that he is the correct winner).
In any case, I know the elections are really on peoples' minds here right now. Support is very starkly separated between the two candidates, with the majority of people in my city supporting the apparent winner, Felipe Calderon. It is crazy to me to see how strongly many people show their support for him- they have the normal bumper stickers and signs in front of their houses, but also bracelets, school bags, and things people wear every day.
One of our teachers at school explained this level of passion as stemming from the fact that Mexico had one ruling party, the PRI for more than 70 years, until the year 2000.
In my host family's house, there have been two lively discussions among the family about the political situation, one over breakfast, and one during dinner. Each of my host family members seems very passionate about Felipe Calderon. My host father even mentioned something about marching, or protesting in the streets for Calderon if need be.
Some of the discussions made me a little uncomfortable, as the ladies who clean our house were present for them, and I sometimes wonder how they feel about the political situation. One of my Spanish teachers here explained to me that Felipe Calderon, and the PAN party, are generally liked by more educated, well to do people. The other candidate, Lopez Obrador, apparently appeals more to people working class people who live in rural areas, and I wonder where the ladies working in our house fall on this spectrum.
Actually, just now reading on BBC news, there is apparently going to be a protest in favor of Obrador in Mexico City this weekend, with a huge rally in the city center, the Zocalo, on Sunday.
This is of special interest to me, as I have signed up for a trip to Mexico City for this Saturday and Sunday, and I know the Zocalo is on our list of things to see. I am pretty excited about seeing the City, just because it's such an important place in Mexico, and it would be neat to see this part of its history being acted out.
But the grand scale of the demonstrations also seem a bit scary to me, as a foreigner traveling. I don't want to do anything foolish, or endanger myself.
So. . I'm not sure yet what I'll decide to do, but this is definitely an interesting time to be in Mexico.
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