Mexican candidate vows to fight

MEXICO CITY — Mexican presidential hopeful Andrés Manuel López Obrador made it clear Saturday he won't go down without a fight, calling on a gathered multitude to join him in nationwide protests as he tries to prove to the courts that he was defrauded in last Sunday's election.

Speaking before hundreds of thousands of supporters dressed in the yellow and black of his Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), López Obrador told his supporters across the nation to join him in launching a National March for Democracy beginning Wednesday and vowed to prove he was the winner in the photo-finish balloting.

"Cheer up, we are sure that despite all the anti-democratic practices, we won on July 2," he told the throngs gathered in Mexico City's picturesque Zocalo, the ancient city square.

López Obrador's call for the march, which will culminate with another massive "informative rally" July 16, also guarantees difficult weeks ahead for Mexico. Addressing his supporters Saturday night under a Mexican flag, López Obrador made it clear he would seek the presidency at nearly any cost because "beyond the technical arguments or legal foundations is democracy and the stability of the country."

López Obrador finished second in the July 2 voting, but his conservative rival Felipe Calderón won by about 243,000 votes out of more than 41 million cast, or a scant 0.58 percent margin.

López Obrador overcame attempts last year to impeach him on a technicality when he was mayor of Mexico City, a move that would have prevented his presidential bid. He believes President Vicente Fox and electoral authorities conspired to deny him the presidency.

Earlier Saturday, López Obrador announced he'd bring several different allegations of irregularities to the special Federal Electoral Tribunal. Using the word "fraud" for the first time, he alleged he was the victim of a rigged computer count.

Current and former election officials deny the computerized vote count can be manipulated. Foreign and domestic election observers saw no signs of fraud, but López Obrador said he disagreed with them and called the elections "plagued by irregularities."

Tens of thousands of angry and vocal supporters streamed into the square throughout the day, some carrying signs that read "This is just beginning" and "Vote by Vote, Booth by Booth," a reference to the candidate's demand for a complete recount of every vote cast.

Jose Valtierra Campos, a university professor, joined López Obrador in chiding President Bush for calling Friday to congratulate Calderón on his victory. "Tell Mr. Bush to keep his hands out of here. We can manage things," he said. "I think Bush doesn't have a reason to intervene in matters that don't involve him!"

López Obrador sees those calls as an affront because Mexico officially does not have a president-elect until the election tribunal validates the election results. It has until Sept. 6 to do so.