The battle over the impeachment of Mexico City’s popular leftist mayor is heating up, with demonstrations planned for Sunday. They are hoping to get up to 400,000 people.

A rally planned for Mexico’s capital city on Sunday could prove the defining moment in the complicated legal tangle involving Andr????s Manuel L????pez Obrador, Mexico City’s popular leftwing mayor and presidential aspirant.

There are two possible outcomes. A big, non-violent ???????silent march??????? the mayor’s strategists hope for 400,000 protesters would show the nation that popular support is not waning for Mr L????pez Obrador, who faces arrest on a contempt-of-court charge. Demonstrations are planned throughout Mexico.

But a small turnout would confirm the difficulty he faces in keeping the issue of his political disenfranchisement alive in the minds of the electorate until next January, when nominations for the July 2006 presidential election close.

Two weeks after the Mexican Congress voted to strip him of his political immunity–a move that could bar the mayor from running for president–both sides still seem uncertain of their political momentum.
…
Sunday????????s demonstrations may indicate whether the mayor can maintain his high level of popular support until next July’s election.

According to the most recent poll for the El Universal newspaper, 72 per cent of Mexicans believe Mr L????pez Obrador was impeached to remove a political rival, rather than as part of a legal proceeding. Two-thirds said they would be prepared to take part in acts of civil disobedience to support him.

Well, Fox is the kind of guy who would do this just to get a political rival out of the way. That is something I definitely don’t agree with. I can imagine that no matter how popular Obrador is, that many of the people who plan to support him through demonstrations are doing so in protest of the current government’s actions.

If I recall correctly, Obrador had, when the situation first broke, told his followers not to protest. Who knows what could have happened if they did? Things would have been disorganized and possibly violent. He took this breather in order to mobilize and organize the people that will be going out onto the street, as what happens with all mass demonstrations. If he can get the numbers that he predicts, then I predict that Mexico is going to really heat up this summer.