The Bizarre 2006 Inauguration: Mexico's President Quiz

Answer: Vicente Fox

Vicente Fox served his one six-year term, which in Mexico is the limit for presidents. The other three men named served as presidents of their respective countries in 2007: Chavez in Venezuela, Morales in Ecuador, and Ortega in Nicaragua. They were all leftists, admirers of Fidel Castro, which seemed to be the political tendency in Latin America in 2007.

Answer: Felipe Calderon

The correct answer is Felipe Calderon, but it gets complicated. Both Felipe Calderon (representing the National Action Party, or PAN) and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (candidate of the PRD, or Party of the Democratic Revolution) declared themselves the winner. Roberto Madrazo was the PRI candidate (Institutional Revolutionary Party) which ran a weak third. Patricia Mercado represented the Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party and gained relatively few votes.

There was a preliminary count on election day, with the results being announced at regular intervals.

But for some reason, late in the day it was decided to stop announcing the counts until all the results were in. This seemed suspicious to some people, as Calderon had a lead throughout most of the day, and when Lopez Obrador seemed to be catching up-they stopped announcing the results. Mexico has a long history of electoral fraud and stolen elections.

There were many observers at the polls, each party with representatives watching over the ballot boxes. (It is said that Lopez Obrador won the governorship of his home state of Tabasco in 1994, only to have it stolen by fraud on the part of the PRI. Roberto Madrazo was declared the winner.)

Answer: .58

Calderon won the election by obtaining .58 percent more votes than Lopez Obrador. The actual official amount of votes was a bit under a quarter million. The results were as follows:
Felipe Calderon - (PAN) 15,000,284 35.89%
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - (PRD) 14,756,350 35.31%
Roberto Madrazo - PRI 9,301,441 22.26%
Patricia Mercado - Social Democratic 1,128,850 2.70%
Roberto Campa - New Alliance Party 401,804 0.96%

Answer: Federal Electoral Institute

Mexico has an electoral agency called the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE. Because electoral fraud has been so common in Mexico, the agency was created to oversee all elections in the country. The IFE asked the candidates to refrain from announcing themselves as victorious because the voting was so close. Neither Calderon or Lopez Obrador paid any heed to this, and both proclaimed victory.

When it was finally announced that Calderon had won, Lopez Obrador immediately cried foul. He was able to document irregularities in vote counts and handling of the ballot boxes.

These charges were looked into and rectified. Lopez Obrador was not satisfied, and insisted upon a vote-by-vote recount. There were massive demonstrations in the streets of Mexico City and other cities in support of Lopez Obrador. Within the IFE, there is an Electoral Tribunal, and the Tribunal makes the decisions.

Although some small irregularities were found, they were deemed as having no effect on the outcome of the election.

After a month-long deliberation, ultimately Calderon was declared the winner. The Tribunal's ruling was the final word, and there is no appeals process.

Answer: True

Lopez Obrador insisted that he is the legitimate president of Mexico. He insisted that he won by 500,000 votes. There were many protest marches and acts of civil disobedience in the following weeks. Lopez Obrador was the Chief of Government in Mexico City for a time, and developed quite a following.

He is a leftist and is considered by many to be a champion of the poor. On November 20, 2006, which is Mexican Revolution Day, Lopez Obrador's followers proclaimed him to be the legitimate president of Mexico.

He was "sworn in" at a huge rally in Mexico City. He also appointed an "alternative cabinet".

Answer: False

Mexico's constitution specifies that the president must be sworn in "before Congress". There was never any discussion (except by the media) about a change in venue for the swearing-in. Calderon insisted all along that he would be sworn in before Congress.

Answer: Nothing - they were allowed to conduct their sit-in

They were allowed to stay there. It was a marathon sit-in. They all ate and slept on the Senate podium for three days. No move whatsoever was made to force them to leave. They had sleeping bags brought in, (I believe I saw a few Senators wearing pajamas), food was delivered, (they ordered in pizza), chatted on their cell phones, and waited for the day that Calderon was to be sworn in.

This was all on television, of course. There are cameras all over the building.

Answer: True

Punches were thrown, people were kicked, including people already down on the floor. Remember, these were elected officials, Senators. Calderon's supporters attempted to block the PRD members from completely taking over the podium and all the entrances to the Congress floor, which resulted in several confrontations and much name-calling.

Answer: Former President George H. W. Bush

President George W. Bush did not attend. But his father, former President George H.W. Bush did, along with Prince Felipe de Asturias of Spain and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The security was extremely heavy. The boulevards leading to the Mexican Congress building were closed off to all traffic, and the streets lined with many thousands of police and soldiers.

There was speculation that it would be totally impossible for Calderon to enter the building and be sworn in on the podium. President-elect Calderon appeared quite calm, considering the circumstances.

Answer: True

He was indeed able to take the oath as called for by the Mexican Constitution. Felipe Calderon and Vicente Fox entered the building through a small back door. It was the only entrance not blocked by the PRD. Members of Calderon's PAN party had managed to keep that one entrance open. There was a last-minute fracas when the PRD realized what was up, but it was too late. Calderon and Fox mounted the jammed podium, flanked by many bodyguards, all of them wearing bright red ties to identify themselves. Calderon pronounced the oath of office, which took less than a minute. This among catcalls and whistles, the PRD having equipped themselves with whistles to drown out Calderon as he spoke. Then the national anthem was sung by everyone, and Calderon and Fox left, to move on to additional official ceremonies, but under much friendlier circumstances. Lopez Obrador continued to insist he was the president, but the Mexican public seemed to have tired of the whole business. In one of his first acts since taking office, President Felipe Calderon had ordered the army into several Mexican states to crack down on the murderous drug gangs that plague the country.
Felipe Calderon was born in 1962 in Morelia, Michoacan. He is a lawyer with a Master's Degree in economics. He also received a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
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