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Mexicans applaud new absentee vote for immigrants

By S. Lynne Walker
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
September 1, 2005

MEXICO CITY – President Vicente Fox welcomed millions of Mexicans living abroad back into the country's political life yesterday during a celebration of a new law that allows immigrants to vote by absentee ballot in next year's presidential election.

"One citizen, one vote is a reality today for the first time in our history," Fox told a jubilant audience gathered in Mexico City's National Palace. "Generations of men and women have fought so that we would reach this moment."

Immigrant activists traveled from throughout the United States to attend the celebration. For many, the event marked the end of a 17-year struggle for a right guaranteed under the Mexican Constitution but long denied by the Mexican Congress.

"Finally, this has become a reality," said Jorge Navarrete, 51, who emigrated to the United States 25 years ago and lives near Dallas. "Now, I feel 100 percent Mexican."

The fight to win the right to vote "was a cause that, like no other, united the great majority of Mexicans living abroad, regardless of their economic, social or organizational differences," said Raul Ross, a co-founder of the Coalition for Political Rights of Mexicans Abroad who shared the podium with Fox yesterday.

Mexican immigrants have felt like "second-class citizens," he said. One in 10 Mexicans – an estimated 11 million – now live in the United States. No other country has more citizens living outside its borders.

"Today, the Mexican government has greater legitimacy in negotiating with the United States about issues involving its migrants," Ross said.

Ross and other immigrant advocates said the victory on the absentee ballot signaled the beginning – not the end – of their push for expanded rights.

They want Mexico's major political parties to cede some of their at-large congressional seats to immigrants living in the United States who want to commute between the two countries, to ensure that immigrant issues are on the national agenda. Their goal is 15 immigrant legislators – five from each major party.

The celebration offered a rare moment in Mexican politics, when politicians from every party stopped their bickering and congratulated one another for doing something for the good of Mexico.

Institutional Revolutionary Party Congressman Manlio Beltrones, the speaker of the lower house of deputies, singled out Fox for praise.

"This is an authentic event of rejoicing," Beltrones said.

Although the Mexican Constitution was changed in 1996 to give citizens living abroad the right to vote, the Congress never put mechanisms in place so such voting could occur. It wasn't until June 2004, when Fox sent his own legislation to Congress outlining a system for absentee voting, that a serious debate on the issue began.

This week, the Federal Electoral Institute announced that from Oct. 1 through Jan. 15, Mexicans with valid voter credentials can pick up forms requesting an absentee ballot at Mexican embassies and consular offices around the world.

As Fox walked into the National Palace yesterday, people gave him a standing ovation. A smile crept across the beleaguered president's face as he found a cause to celebrate.

Today, when he delivers his annual State of the Nation address, opposition legislators are likely to use the occasion to criticize him for failing to push through significant labor, energy and tax reforms.

However, immigrants say Fox has kept his campaign promises to them.

"In terms of migrant reform, Fox has done more than any other president," said Primitivo RodrÃÂ*guez, coordinator in Mexico for the Coalition for the Political Rights of Mexicans Abroad.

Fox's administration has expanded a program providing matching funds for money immigrants send home for community projects. An identification card for immigrants in the United States known as a matrÃÂ*cula has grown in acceptance and has given more Mexicans access to bank accounts in the United States. His government also tackled the issue of Mexicans on death row in the United States.

"Mexicans who live abroad have always been in our hearts and minds. This is, and will always be, your country," Fox said yesterday. "We form a united nation, strong and indivisible. We are one people, and no border could or can divide us."