2 - 2006 Presidential Elections

Summary

La elección presidencial del 2 de julio de 2006 en México ha suscitado un nivel de confrontación y polarización nunca antes visto en este país.

The presidential election of 2 July 2006 has sparked a level of confrontation and polarisation never seen before in this country

(Maihold, 2006, p. 170–1).

Introduction

Felipe Calderón's journey to Los Pinos was marred by accusations of fraud and claims of illegitimacy. As examined in the previous chapter, Calderón emerged unexpectedly as the Partido Acción Nacional's (PAN) / National Action Party nominee for the 2006 presidential race, and for months trailed behind the leading Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) / Party of the Democratic Revolution candidate and former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador. When the results of the elections were announced on 2 July 2006, Calderón was named the winner by a narrow margin of about 0.6 per cent. Accusations of electoral fraud were made, and subsequent mass civil protests impugned the legitimacy of the elections and Calderón's win. The margin of victory would later narrow to 0.56 per cent after ongoing public dissent compelled the electoral institution to perform partial recounts of the ballots (Ugues, 2010, p. 499). These highly contested elections set the tenor for Calderón's rise to power and the period of social and political instability that followed. Although the context and outcome of these elections have been explored in the previous chapter, the socio-historical importance of the 2006 presidential elections requires a more in-depth investigation of their impact on Mexican society and on the following turbulent six years of Calderón's presidency.

The implementation, outcome and representation of the 2006 elections will be examined in this chapter by using two different documentary film texts that follow the controversy. Both are directed by prominent Mexican filmmakers known for their work nationally as well as in Hollywood.

At the time of its release, Luis Mandoki's Fraude: México, 2006 (2007) / Fraud: Mexico, 2006, was Mexico's most-viewed documentary feature ever (MacLaird, 2013), p. 480). Fraude documents the events occurring before, during and after the 2006 presidential elections, providing visual evidence and testimony of fraud. The film comprises Mandoki's own filming of events, archival footage and amateur recordings sent at Mandoki's request by citizens from all over Mexico. In Fraude, Mandoki uses these sundry visual materials as evidence to support the accusations of fraud surrounding the 2006 elections.