The leftist candidate protesting his narrow defeat in Mexico's presidential election threatened last night to intensify protests over the result.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for the Party of the Democratic Revolution, is heading protests to pressure Mexico's electoral court into ordering a full recount of votes in the July 2nd presidential election.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with supporters in Mexico City
He lost the election by just 0.6 percentage points to conservative ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon.
Thousands of Mr Lopez Obrador's supporters have seized Mexico City's vast Zocalo square and main Reforma boulevard, causing three days of traffic chaos and drawing fire from the government.
"Mexico City belongs to everyone. All those who live here deserve to have their rights respected," said a spokesman for President Vicente Fox.
The protests have been peaceful, but they
are angering residents and alienating some former Lopez Obrador supporters. Mr Lopez Obrador has apologised for the disruption, but insisted it was a small price to pay.
Speaking from a stage in the square, one of the world's largest, the former Mexico City mayor said he would decide whether to step up the campaign of civil disobedience after a court decision over a recount, which he expected within days.
"It causes annoyance, anger, we know that, but there is no other choice . . . we have to make democracy count in our country," he said.
Mr Calderon, who insists there was no fraud, urged calm in a primetime television call for peace. "I have acted responsibly and not reacted to provocation, because I firmly believe in the power of the peaceful and because we won cleanly," he said.