NPR (All Things Considered)/Cheryl Corley/[[December 2, 2006]]/ link

Mexico's recent political strife has migrated to Chicago... in a quieter form. No public fisticuffs, no brawling over the installation of President Felipe Calderon. Instead, supporters of opposition leader Manuel Lopez Obrador's PRD party have set up what they call an "alternate consulate."

Why Chicago? More than 1.5 million people of Mexican descent live in the Chicago area. The new diplomatic entity is in a storefront on the city's southwest side.

Jorge Mujica, a top official of the PRD in Illinois, is the spokesman for the alternate consulate and Rene Magana is the self-appointed consul. Although they joke about their protest, both men are serious in their belief that Lopez Obrador was cheated out of the Mexican presidency.

So, following steps being taken in Mexico, they created their own parallel government entity.

... for the official consulate, Caesar Romero is concerned the alternate consulate will create confusion for Mexican nationals in the Chicago area. So is Salvador Pedroza, president of the Illinois Chapter of Felipe Calderon's PAN party (PAN). A picture of Pedroza and former Mexican President Vicente Fox sits on a bookshelf...