Another giant crowd turned out in Mexico City to support leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador's call for a recount in the disputed July 2 presidential vote.
BY KEVIN DIAZ AND DAVID OVALLE
McClatchy News Service
MEXICO CITY - A record 1.2 million people poured into this city's central square on Sunday in another show of force by backers of leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his demand for a recount in the July 2 election that gave a narrow victory to conservative Felipe Calderón.
The turnout was less than the two million López Obrador had promised two weeks ago, when he brought 1.1 million followers to the Zócalo, the city's central square.
But police said it was the largest demonstration in Mexico's history, and analysts said it was enough to lend momentum to López Obrador's case, which currently is being considered by Mexico's federal election tribunal, which must declare a winner by Sept. 6.
''The electoral tribunal has to rule independently, but they have to be aware of public opinion,'' said John Ackerman, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
López Obrador said he would not hold another mass march, but instead would organize 47 ''permanent assemblies'' of supporters who would hold around-the-clock vigils throughout the city until the tribunal rules.
''We will be here until we have a recount of the votes that gives us a legitimate president,'' López Obrador told the cheering crowd.
The crowd estimates were made by the city's public safety department, which reported no incidents of violence.
Sunday's march came as lawyers for Calderón's National Action Party, or PAN, met with the tribunal's seven members to discuss the case. On Saturday, López Obrador's representatives met with the justices.
SLIM VICTORY
López Obrador, of the Party of Democratic Revolution, or PRD, is seeking a vote-by-vote recount of the 41 million ballots cast. Calderón won by less than 1 percent.
''Not only is the presidency at stake, but so are the rights of the people,'' López Obrador said at the rally. ``It's not a lot to ask for a new count of the votes. That would calm the country and assure stability.''
The massive rally and the private judicial proceedings -- no one from the public was allowed to monitor the justices' meetings with the two camps -- capped a week of increasing friction during the postelection dispute. Both sides have declared victory.
The candidates amped up the rhetoric Wednesday. López Obrador declared himself ''president of Mexico,'' while Calderón's camp said López Obrador's is bordering on ``messianic.''
NOISY, COLORFUL RALLY
The spectacle on Sunday proved every bit as colorful and noisy as two previous López Obrador marches.
Marchers whacked empty water jugs with sticks, a man atop a truck wore an oversized paper López Obrador head, and a giant TV screen broadcast live protest shots set to throbbing electronic music.
Selling coffee mugs bearing López Obrador's portrait, street vendor María del Carmen Silvestre, 32, said he remains the best hope for the nation's poor. ''Calderón won't do anything for us,'' she said. ``[With] López Obrador we will get work and we will survive.''
López Obrador arrived at the packed square aboard a motorcade that had passed down the city's main thoroughfare, the Paseo de la Reforma, where a statue of Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, was draped with a huge banner that read ``At your orders, Mr. President.''
People carried signs bearing the likeness of Mexico's first indigenous president of Mexico, Benito Juárez. One young woman dressed in white hung from a wooden crucifix. Her yellow sash read ``Democracy.''
''We're a very Catholic country. It's Mexican idiosyncrasy,'' said university Professor Guadalupe Rodríguez, 48. ``But it doesn't mean [López Obrador] is messianic. It's a form of expression.''
Despite Sunday's massive turnout, a poll published Sunday showed concerns over López Obrador's movement.
UNEASE, MISTRUST
The poll, sponsored by the Reforma newspaper, showed that 58 percent of Mexicans don't believe López Obrador when he says he will respect the decision of the electoral court, while 57 percent believe his protest campaign could spark violence.
Also, 59 percent said they believe he has acted ''irresponsibly'' since the July 2 elections, compared to 28 percent who said the same of Calderón.
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