There was another election protest in downtown Mexico City today. According to this AP article, the organizers say there were 2 million supporters of Lopez Obrador who marched down Reforma to the Zocalo. Then, he asked his supporters to turn the protest into a sit-in downtown, which will probably create a ton of problems in this already overcrowded city.
I think the quote of the article is this:
If the road to democracy is closed off, than all that’s left is submission or violence. -AMLO
I vote for submission, not violence. Please keep praying for this situation that may get out of hand. Luckily, where we live is a good distance from downtown. We are nowhere near the protests. On my way to church today, I did see one person this morning waiting for a bus dressed in yellow. I assume they were going to the protest downtown. Anyway, this is far from over.
Photo: Gato Azul on Flickr.com
Coming home today from Puebla, we were talking about some of the top things that we hate about driving in Mexico. We were talking about this during the three hour drive, which included about an hour and a half in traffic.
Here’s the list, in no particular order:
- Buses and taxis everywhere who think they own the road and have no courtesy. Meaning, they stop wherever and whenever they want, cut you off, expect you to let them into the line of traffic, but never let you into the line of traffic. Plus, they don’t really care if they bump into you.
- People who turn right (or left) from the far left (or right) lane, cutting off anyone who is in the lane that is SUPPOSED to turn that direction (or go straight).
- Potholes that could swallow a compact car that you don’t see until they have broken your axle (we hit one that sounded horrible).
- Speed bumps (they call them topes), but we are talking about the kind that are intended to hurt, injure, or render useless any car that doesn’t practically come to a complete stop while going over them.
- When there is traffic and people decide to turn the shoulder into another lane. Then, when they can’t get past you, they get behind you in traffic and “bump” you.
- Traffic cops that mostly cause traffic. Maybe that’s where they get their name?
- While driving down the road, at any given time, someone could be backing up towards you, and you must avoid them. As long as they have their flashers on, there’s no problem.
- Motorcycles that zip by you (between you and the car next to you) without any warning.
Wow, that list got longer the more I thought about it. Anyway, we’re back safely (thank God) from our trip to Puebla. I’m sure I’ll be posting a follow up traffic post sometime in the future.
Today, we are going to Puebla, Mexico, for the National Baptist Youth Conference. Each year, they have a week-long youth conference for the Baptist youth of the country. It’s one of the few organized things for youth throughout the year.
This year, it’s in Puebla, about 3 hours from Mexico City. We’re leaving in the morning to get there and do a survey of the more than 700 young people who are there. I’m hoping to gain a better understanding of some key relationships in the lives of young people in Mexico. It’s part of ongoing research that I am doing to better understand youth culture. In this case, we will be surveying only Baptist young people, but it will give us a good starting point, and it will be good for the seminary program.
We supposedly have internet in our hotel room, so maybe I’ll get some blogging done while there. I’m hoping to take lots of pics and video.
“I won the election. Yes, I’m the president of Mexico,” said Lopez Obrador, the candidate who finished in 2nd place in the Mexican presidential election. Here’s a piece of an article on CNN.com:
Lopez Obrador said Wednesday that if Mexico’s top electoral court does not order a full recount — something widely considered unlikely — he couldn’t rule out the possibility that his supporters would seize Mexico City’s airport and block major highways to the capital.
Please pray that this will be settled peacefully. It could be a very difficult next few months in Mexico, especially Mexico City.
Related: Our “Election” posts.
