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Obrador declares himself President, plans protests

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

July 27, 2006

Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the vote count to his rival Felipe Calderon by 0.57%, declared victory in the elections and vowed that he and his supporters will continue protesting. "I am already president," he said in a television interview "I won the presidential election. I am president of Mexico by the will of the majority of Mexicans."

Protests in favour of Obrador have grown increasingly confrontational. This week, protestors marched in front of the Mexican stock exchange, blockading the entrance. Obrador is expected to announce a campaign of civil disobedience at a rally in central Mexico City on Sunday. He and his supporters are pressuring Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal to issue a recount of every vote cast in the election.

Presidential Candidate Obrador believes that President Vicente Fox and Presidential Candidate Calderon are responsible for what he believes to be election fraud.

Calderon has rejected Obrador's call for a recount, saying that the election was fair.

Sources