Mexico’s giving us our own reflection

My friend Marshall Peterson, who has shared his experiences here of film festivals both in the U.S. and Mexico, sent me the following e-mail. Marshall, a former Spokanite who runs a hostel in Guadalajara , wrote this while headed back there.

His topic, for those you who are keeping abreast of international politics, involves the disputed Mexican presidential race – which as of today is still in dispute. He uses that forum to comment on the general state of U.S. politics and why we can never again afford to feel superior about our own political machinations:

July 4th, 2006, 30,000 miles above Tijuana, Mexico…

“It’s tense down here, very, very tense; many feel that there will be outbreaks of violence this Wednesday when the ‘winner’ is announced. Glad to know you’re coming down, see ya tomorrow.”

My thoughts are on these words, written by my good friend David in an e-mail received only hours before my plane lifted off. What have I gotten myself into? Wouldn’t it have been wiser to have stayed another week in safe lil’ Spokalm? Safer? Surely, but wiser? Only time will tell.

Just left L.A. bound for Guadalajara, anxiously awaiting the results of the Mexican presidential race, which will be broadcast on Wednesday, three full days after the election took place. The government entity in charge of certifying the elections, the Instituto Federal Electoral , has said that it needs to carefully count all the ballots.

Both candidates declared victory last Sunday, but obviously only one can win, and, as of today nobody is certain of the outcome. The right-wing PAN candidate won a very preliminary estimate, although that sounds strange because he’s been behind to well-behind in almost every poll taken during the past two years.

Sounds strange, so strange in fact that it reminds me of our own 2000 race, where, unfortunately the issue ending up being “hanging chads” rather than what it should have been – the intentional disenfranchisement of (historically Democrat) voters and the highly suspect (read illegal) actions done by the then-head of Bush’s election campaign , coincidentally (?) also the head of elections in Florida.

I had put these issues behind me, but I’ve now found myself refocusing on them after recently seeing “American Blackout” at the Seattle International Film Festival a few weeks back. A Sundance winner and must-see movie (if any theater chain has the courage to run it), the film claims that not just the 2000 elections were stolen but the 2004 as well.

Possessing a bachelor’s degree in political science, I could be mistaken for someone who was “up” on this story, but, sadly, it was news to me. I felt, at the time, that while one could (and should) complain about the illegal activities carried out during the 2000 election (“He’s not MY president!” many declared), well, Bush won 2004 fair and square, so what could I do? Let’s move on, right?

I felt it was a no-issue until “American Blackout” and an in-depth and convincing recent Rolling Stone article “Was the 2004 Election Stolen?” Chances are you won’t get the chance to see “American Blackout,” so take advantage of the fact that you can read the article and read it!

I’m not bringing this up to complain, but one must use the past to inform our future, and I have grave concerns over future U.S. presidential elections. We need to look at what was done, much of which reminds me of the behavior of those “Smartest Guys in the Room” Enron leaders. The cleverest of the clever, behavior not fit for good Americans.

While I may not always agree with the results of our elections, I always have accepted the results, knowing that in the U.S. we only have fair elections – one person, one vote, and all those votes are counted. But I fear that the U.S. is being shaken at its foundations and citizens seem to be sleeping through the shakeup.