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Thousands rally in Mexico in support of losing candidate

More than 150,000 supporters of the losing leftist candidate for president flooded into the capital's historic square on Saturday and declared him "the legitimate president" of Mexico.

As his supporters roared in approval, the candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, vowed to set up his own government and to fight against "a band of white-collar crooks and corrupt politicians" who he has said had stolen the election from him.

"I accept the responsibility of being president because I reject the imposition of their candidate and rupture of the constitutional order," he said.

"They can keep their pirated institutions and their phony president, but they cannot keep our fatherland and our national dignity," he said.

Described as a national democratic convention, the massive rally seemed intended to keep Lopez Obrador and his political agenda from fading out of the national debate.

Mexico's highest electoral court ruled on Sept. 5 that Lopez Obrador had narrowly lost the election, held on July 2, to Felipe Calderon, a conservative from President Vicente Fox's party.

The leftist maintains there was a broad conspiracy among business leaders, the Fox administration and news media barons to keep him from winning.

He accused them of using illegal attack advertisements and old-fashioned fraud to ensure that he would be defeated in the elections.

Having lost a court battle for a full recount, Lopez Obrador resorted on Saturday to a tactic with deep roots in Mexican history: He convened a "national convention" of his supporters to draw up a new agenda for the country.

By a show of hands, the crowd unanimously denied Calderon had won.

They declared Lopez Obrador president, asked him to form a Cabinet and supported a constitutional convention.

Meanwhile, Mexico said early yesterday that it is considering breaking off diplomatic relations with Venezuela after President Hugo Chavez accused the Mexican government of stealing the presidential election.

"The Mexican government rejects completely the judgments expressed about the Mexican electoral process and its results, made by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Mr. Hugo Chavez, in his interview with CNN en Espanol," Mexico's foreign ministry said.

"Even though false, they constitute an inadmissible intervention in the internal affairs of our country," it said.
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