LatinaLista — There are two things the world expects from the outcome of this weekend’s presidential election in Mexico — drama and accusations of cheating. In a country that is recognized the world over for its systemic corruption, expectations are high that it will be a factor in who wins the Mexican presidency.
Though movements, such as the youth-run #YoSoy132 and the international Morena movement are trying to bypass that assumption of corruption with these movements powered by the voices of the people, there’s not much esperanza (hope) that honesty and fairness will suddenly prevail.
So, Mexican actor and businessman Gustavo Andrade decided to do his part to see that this election is as close to the will of the majority as possible. He created a campaign on Change.org to convince the United Nations, the Carter Center and other international organizations to send monitors to supervise the country’s presidential election on July 1.
As of this writing, over 75,000 signatures have been collected.
“I don’t side with any particular political party. I’m just taking a stand for legal and transparent elections in my country. I want a real democracy,” said Andrade.
The campaign has worked — partly. The United Nations is now agreeing to send monitors. Andrade is still waiting to hear from the Carter Center to respond. With the election only a couple of days away, Andrade wants to make sure that Mexico’s political system feel the pressure of conducting democratic elections.
According to the campaign, for every signature collected for the campaign an email is sent to Deanna Congileo, director of public information for The Carter Center.
“I do not want my country that is already wounded to fall into the hands of those who for so many years have hurt us. I would die of sadness,” Andrade said.
(Editor’s Note: A call to the Carter Center had not been returned by posting time.)
