Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans marched in silence on Sunday against government efforts to put a popular leftist politician on trial in a battle that could knock him out of presidential elections.
Protesters crammed into Mexico City's vast central square and narrow streets of the historic downtown, many waving banners condemning the legal case against Mexico City's mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
"Don't let democracy die," read one banner. Others vilified President Vicente Fox as a traitor and dictator.
Elderly men and women stood shoulder to shoulder with young families, middle class professionals and students, a sign of the feisty politician's broad appeal.
A two-hour silent march erupted with cheers and applause when Lopez Obrador took to the stage to attack the government and promise an all-out assault on poverty if he is elected.
"We will continue to fight peacefully. We are sure our cause is just and that it will triumph," he shouted, pledging to use Mexico's oil wealth and other natural resources to improve the lives of its 40 million poor.
Swiss Info article
Well, that'll get him killed.
The mayor owes much of his popularity to ambitious public works programs and cash handouts to pensioners and the poor.
Those spending policies, his fiery rhetoric and a combative style worry some business leaders and Wall Street investors, who fear the arrival of a populist government in Mexico, a major oil exporter and U.S. trade partner.
Do we have enough CIA force in Mexico?
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