MEXICO: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-wing candidate who claims to have been cheated out of victory in July's presidential election, has taken an "oath of office" as the "legitimate president" of Mexico in an elaborate ritual his many detractors ridiculed as a farce.
The ceremony on Monday in the capital city came less than two weeks before the inauguration of the man who won the election, conservative Felipe Calderón.
As many as 100,000 people attended the event, in which Mr Lopez Obrador, the 52-year-old former mayor of Mexico City, also swore in a six-man, six-woman shadow cabinet.
"It is an honour to be the legitimate president of Mexico and above all the leader of free men and women like you," Mr Lopez Obrador told the crowd after left-wing senator and human rights activist Rosario Ibarra de Piedra placed a "presidential sash" over his shoulder.
His self-coronation wasn't the first time a losing candidate had proclaimed himself Mexico's "legitimate president" (three did so from 1910-1940), and it might not augur well for the country's political stability.
"He is not doing this to make sure that Calderón governs in the name of the poor; he's trying to make sure that Calderón can't govern at all," said Denise Dresser, a political analyst.
"He is leading many Mexicans to believe that change in this country cannot occur through peaceful means."
On September 5th, after weeks of partial recounts and legal pleadings alleging fraud, Mexico's highest electoral court proclaimed Mr Calderón the winner of the presidential race by 234,000 votes, or 0.56 percentage points.
The newspaper Reforma published a poll that found two in three Mexicans believe Mr Lopez Obrador has "little or no" credibility. But one in five respondents felt he was right to proclaim himself president.
Mr Lopez Obrador urged his followers not to recognise Mr Calderón's government.
"We are congregated here, because in the face of the electoral fraud of July 2nd, we have decided to abolish the regime of corruption and privilege," he said.
"We will begin the construction of a new republic."
The swearing-in took place amid a festive atmosphere in Mexico city's central plaza, the zocalo, with invited foreign dignitaries that included Brazilian community activists and Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez.