"Fighting with Ideas" South of La Frontera

A follow up to last week's post. Hope has been kindled anew.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Sunday to demand a manual recount in the disputed presidential election, led by a leftist candidate who says fraud cost him the presidency.

As a precaution, the Roman Catholic Church canceled Mass at the city’s downtown cathedral as supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador began to overwhelm the central plaza to the sound of firecrackers and bands. Police officials in the pro-Lopez Obrador city government estimated the crowd at 900,000. - linkage

This section of the AP article caught my attention, it stems from comments of everyday citizens on the reasons they have taken to the streets.

“In 1988 we were ready to take up sticks and stones,” she said. “Today we are prepared to fight with ideas.”

[snip]

School teacher Ezequiel Torres, 53, said Lopez Obrador “represents hope.”

Fighting with ideas. It is a noble cause, one that causes society to rethink the entire paradigm we live within. I find it highly ironic that Mass was canceled due to the gathering of humanity. Don't underestimate the influence the Church still has in Latin America. As a practicing Catholic, I've always viewed the Mass as the same thing that occured in that city square this weekend - a gathering of humanity. I guess the people have decided to give Liberation Theology some new life despite the direct attempts to stifle/reject it by the Vatican.

Sometimes Enough really is Enough. And somewhere, perched on a cloud not far away from the memory of the people, Oscar Romero's spirit smiles at the actions of his Mexican brothers and sisters.

[UPDATE] Arcturus points us to John Ross, over at Democracy Now, who is reporting over 1.1 million citizens hitting the streets this weekend to demand an electoral process based on integrity. You can listen to the segment via the linkage.

Also, catnip emailed me an article from scotsman.com with this picture

The article includes details of a Monday morning call from AMLO for widespread demonstrations of dissent.

A campaign of civil resistance by leftists to force a recount in Mexico's disputed election will start this week, their leader and presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.

Lopez Obrador announced at a huge demonstration on Sunday that his followers will take up civil resistance but he has refused to give details of what actions they will carry out, other than to say they will be peaceful.

¡Vaya! :-)