La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida, ay Dios

Oh, what a difference a day — and a recount — makes. Mexican and international press is reporting that the official recount has put PRD candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the lead over opponent Felipe Calderón, who had just a day ago seemed to be the victor in this race, full of all the twists and turns of a telenovela.

According to Spain’s El País, reporting a little over an hour ago:

The recount of the 42.79% of the votes from the Mexican presidential elections of last Sunday yields a 2.62% lead to leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to an announcement by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE). IFE sources have also clarified that while this would put López Obrador at 37,00% and conservative Felipe Calderón at 34,38%, it is still not possible to confirm definite trends.

Meanwhile, Felipe Calderón still thinks he’ll win, as evidenced by his offer to give AMLO a seat in his cabinet once he’s president:

Felipe Calderón, the PAN’s presidential candidate, said that in the spirit of having a unified and conciliatory government, he would be willing to let his rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador have a seat in his cabinet.

“I’m willing, but I don’t think he’ll accept,” said Calderón in an interview, though he didn’t indicate what seat that might be.

What’s next is anyone’s guess, but the world’s eyes are on Mexico and so are ours.

Via / El País and El Universal

Photo via tj scenes’ Flickr page