Another giant crowd turns out in Mexico City to call for recount

MEXICO CITY — Thousands of protesters set up barricades along Mexico City's central thoroughfare Sunday night, hours after the largest demonstration in Mexico's history filled the main square in support of leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador's election challenge.

Police made no effort to intervene as the protesters set up tents and blocked traffic, apparently in response to López Obrador's call for the establishment of 47 "permanent assemblies" to press his claims of fraud in the July 2 elections. López Obrador lost the vote to conservative Felipe Calderon by less than 1 percent of 41 million ballots cast.

Protesters at one of the barricades on the Paseo de la Reforma said they would remain there until a federal tribunal hearing López Obrador's challenge orders a recount of every ballot.

The street action comes amid mounting tensions in the post-election dispute and was the first sign that López Obrador's supporters intended to take their protests beyond organized mass rallies.

The blocking of Reforma, a giant boulevard that stretches across Mexico City's central corridor, came after a record 1.2 million gathered by midday in the Zocalo, the city's historic central square, to hear López Obrador.

The turnout was less than the 2 million López Obrador had promised two weeks ago, when he brought 1.1 million followers to the Zocalo. 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 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.

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 Calderon'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.

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.

People carried signs bearing the likeness of Mexico's first indigenous president, Benito Juarez. 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 Rodriguez, 48. "But it doesn't mean [López Obrador] is messianic. It's a form of expression."

Calderon's camp said López Obrador was bordering on "messianic" after he declared himself "president of Mexico" on Wednesday.

Despite Sunday's massive turnout, a poll published Sunday showed concerns over López Obrador's movement.

The poll, sponsored by the Reforma newspaper, showed that 58 percent of Mexicans don't believe López Obrador when he says he'll respect the decision of the electoral court. Fifty-seven percent said 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 Calderon.