September 13, 2006 [LINK / comment]

Is the Mexico City protest fading?

In a possible sign of decreased tensions at long last, PRD protesters in Mexico City said they will remove their "tent cities" from downtown so that the September 16 Independence Day military parade may take place unhindered. AMLO has been much less visible in the last few days, possibly recognizing that he really did lose. Or maybe he's just tired. Meanwhile, as a gesture intended to raise mutual confidence, President-elect Felipe Calderon has urged that the ballots from the July 2 elections not be burned, as is the custom. "IFE president Luis Carlos Ugalde responded ... by pointing out the destruction of the ballots is required in election law." A monumental legal battle is pending. See El Universal.

That porous Mexican border

Based on a Freedom of Information Act request from the Department of Homeland Security, Judicial Watch reports that personnel of the Mexican government made 226 incursions into the United States between 1996 and 2005. It is not clear whether that number includes cases where the border was not marked, as in rough terrain, or in Rio Grande sandbars that may shift from year to year. There is no doubt, however, that on many past occasions Mexican police or soldiers were escorting drug traffickers or people entering the United States illicitly. Presumably, such incidents have fallen since President Bush sent National Guard troops to help patrol the border. Any compromises the Bush administration makes with the incoming government of Felipe Calderon with regard to immigration must be contingent upon an immediate cessation of all such activity. Respect between our countries must be mutual.