Calderon's National Action Party, PAN, hopes its nationwide crackdown on drug cartels will win it a bigger share of the 500-seat lower house of Congress, where it currently holds 206 spots. But polls suggest the gains will go to the former longtime ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, which now has 106 seats.
The PAN ran a bruising campaign in which it practically accused the PRI of tolerating drug trafficking. That angered PRI members, and if the party and its allies win enough seats to form a majority, it could block Calderon's efforts to reform police forces and give more police powers to 45,000 soldiers deployed to fight well-armed drug gangs.
"I'm upset because they've promised so much that they haven't delivered. The economy is getting worse, violence is growing," Daniela del Angel, 29, resident of the capital, told Reuters.
The election should not hurt Calderon's war against drug cartels. More than 12,300 people have died since Calderon sent the army against drug gangs in 2006 but Congress has not has played a major role in the fight.
Calderon has lacked a majority in Congress since taking office in 2006, but now more than ever needs backing from opposition deputies to approve reforms.
The vote for 565 mayors and six governorships — including the northern border states of Nuevo Leon and Sonora — is seen as a referendum on an economy that shrank 8.2 percent in the first quarter and is expected to contract 5.5 percent for the year as a whole.
The economic crisis has been compounded by a drop in money sent home by Mexicans working abroad and by a decrease in oil income from the slump in world petroleum prices. Those are Mexico's two biggest sources of foreign currency.
Many activists and intellectuals have urged voters to annul their vote or deface their ballot in protest against the largely government-funded political parties that have done little to break Mexico out of the doldrums. But many more Mexicans — perhaps as many as 70 percent of the 77.5 million registered voters — are likely to simply stay away from the polls.
-
- groups:
- News, Random, World News, Crime, 2 more
-
- tags:
- News, Random, Current TV, World News, 6 more + add
-
- recommended by:
- ClipsFC
-
-
-
-
- ClipsFC
- added this
-
Drug prohibition only makes the drug trade more profitable and violent. The article states, "More than 12,300 people have died since Calderon sent the army against drug gangs in 2006" Why continue the madness? My mom remembers a time of, "innocence" growing up in Arizona. It's not that way anymore and it keeps getting worse. I blame the " war on drugs" since about 1937 which is really a war on weed. or should I say, hemp and nontoxic biodegradable products, instead of the toxic petroleum products we use now. Every listen to, "Partnership for a Drug Free America" Their favorite slogan is, "Live above the influence. Live above weed." Industrial hemp destroys the THC in marijuana for a 10 mile radius and can not make people high, Hemp is illegal to grow in America because it is considered the same as marijuana . Everyone's economy would be better served if, we relegalize drugs, relegalize industrial hemp, use chemurgy to make biodegradable products and burn our methane.
-
-
-
-
- libertyhemp
- 4 months ago
-
-
I agree Libertyhemp with your premise but answer this riddle. How can the people who demand we live by the constituion justify the war on drugs? You can bring all kinds of facts and senarios and discuss and argue your point or Big Oil's point. the fact is this and needs no further discussion. There is no basis in our constitution that would give the federal government any power to interfere with our basic rights concerning any use of drugs. They can give us the information but the decision to use or not must be mine or I am not free.
-
Legalizing party drugs wouldn't stimulate the economy. Drug dealers are some of the biggest spenders out there. Clerks at 7 Eleven wouldn't get a raise if they started selling dime bags. And farmers probably would get underbid by producers out of country... So if you want to live in America and legally do drugs, move to an Indian reservation.
