Moscow picket against election falsifications in Mexico

On Wednesday July 26 the supporters of the International Marxist Tendency in Moscow and comrades from Vpered organised a picket against electoral fraud in Mexico. Although 15 people turned up only 5 people at a time were allowed to stand directly in front of the embassy, where they were enthusiastically cheered by other young comrades waiting for their turn to hold banners reading "Down with cheating in Mexico, down with imperialism internationally" and "no to operation 'successor'" (a reference to the undemocratic selection of the next president being prepared by Vladimir Putin) and "today in Mexico, tomorrow in Russia."

Since the Mexican embassy is in a quiet, posh residential part of the centre not many people saw the picket, nor were there any problems with traffic being blocked or other public disturbances. As we pointed out to the police, who for once were outnumbered by demonstrators in contrast to many other public demonstrations, it is not us who create trouble but the authorities who cheat and thieve from the working class and poor.

The highlight of our agitation was the comment of an old lady who walked past our banners and asked why we were bothering to campaign against electoral fraud in such a far away country as Mexico when it happened so much nearer to home as well. Just as the bourgeois use dirty tricks against the working class in every country so must the working class in every country fight internationally against the same enemy. Such internationalism was underlined by pickets in defence of the Lebanese people and Russian workers the following day.