Speaking moments later, Calderón called for conciliation, saying, "Mexicans can think differently, but we are not enemies." He declared that "the electoral process is over and the hour has arrived for unity." The dueling speeches were tracked minutely by Mexicans both puzzled and fascinated by the prospect of two men simultaneously claiming to lead the nation.

Read the full story from The Post's Manuel Roig-Franzia.

For Mexico, the ruling ends a long, tense period of political uncertainty and puts in office a man who has promised to continue the pro-business policies of fellow National Action Party President Vicente Fox. After enduring two months of legal challenges and street protests in virtual silence, the 44-year-old Calderón emerged minutes after the decision and proclaimed: "I feel very good!"

He immediately announced plans for two speeches tonight. Robbed of the chance for a traditional election night party, Calderón has indicated that he hopes to hold a belated, victory celebration Sept. 10.

In the streets of Mexico City, supporters of leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador waved their fists in the air, shot off fireworks and sobbed bitterly over his defeat.

Alleging massive election fraud, López Obrador's challenge was initially reminiscent of the 2000 presidential recount in the United States. But it quickly became clear to Campaign Conexión that López Obrador was a different type of politician and his followers were prepared to do whatever he asked.

He drew hundreds of thousands to protest rallies throughout the summer and convinced several thousand people to join him in a makeshift tent city in Mexico City's downtown Zocalo. He has vowed to continue his massive street protests and possibly form a parallel, opposition government.

"The retreat stunned Mexicans who had tuned in to watch their president's last major address before his term ends on Dec. 1. Desperate to fill the empty airtime, one network began transmitting an old 'Mr. Bean' comedy episode. Lawmakers from Fox's National Action Party were livid. 'Seizing (the dais) was an aggression against the president,' said Rep. Jorge Rodríguez Prats.

"Fox addressed the unrest when he finally gave the State of the Union speech later Friday night. He read it before a television camera in Los Pinos, the presidential mansion. 'Mexico demands harmony, not anarchy,' Fox said. 'Respect for legality is not and cannot be discretional.'

Commentators and even many of López Obrador's opponents have grudgingly acknowledged that the despite his loss, López Obrador has emerged as a powerful political force in this deeply-divided nation.

"The seizure of the congressional dais in the moments before Fox's speech revealed the twin strategies of López Obrador to use street demonstrations and Mexico's legislature to hammer away at Fox, Calderón and their National Action Party, or PAN, analysts said," writes Sam Enriquez in the Los Angeles Times. "'If he were just a street guy, that'd be one thing,' said Daniel Lund, a Mexico City-based political analyst and pollster. 'But he's one of the best political operatives in the country. His goal for the PRD is to deepen their roots and build electorally.'"

The PRD, or Democratic Revolutionary Party, posted electoral gains at every level in the July election. Experts at the Washington-based Wilson Center have put the results in graph form (PDF).

Even as the tribunal was holding its televised session Tuesday morning, López Obrador was strategizing with PRD leaders over breakfast in a downtown hotel.

The wily former Mexico City mayor continued to poke his finger in Calderón's eye, scheduling a speech for 7 p.m. -- the same time Calderón plans to speak to his supporters. (Get the popcorn ready for television viewing tonight. After those two speeches, Fox, after being humiliated Friday night, will speak at 8 p.m., followed by Calderón again.)

Mexican television, radio and several Internet sites provided minute-by-minute coverage of the day's fast-moving events. At Calderón's transition offices, congratulations were pouring in. Several former Mexican ambassadors paid personal visits to Calderón to mark the moment, while Fox, who had actually congratulated Calderón on July 2, did so again.

Cognizant of the fact that their victory was by a razor-thin margin, Calderón's aides quickly took to the airwave speaking of reconciliation. Senior adviser Josefina Vázquez Mota said Calderón promised to be the president of all Mexicans and would continue trying to make peace with López Obrador.

A Young Democracy Ages
Just six years after Mexico's historic move to true, open democracy, many here feared this summer's showdown would send the nation back to the previous era of fraud, distrust and violence. The tribunal's seven judges, who have come under intense scrutiny during the challenge, took pains to make clear their belief that the fledgling democracy had held a clean, fair election.

The tribunal ruled one day before its Sept. 6 deadline.

"The court found no evidence of systematic fraud, although it threw out some polling place results for mathematical errors, irregularities, and other problems that trimmed Calderón's 240,000-vote advantage to 233,831 votes out of 41.6 million cast. 'There are no perfect elections,' Judge Alfonsina Berta Navarro Hidalgo said. The tribunal's decision was final and cannot be appealed."

In lengthy speeches, two of the judges chastised Fox for interfering with the election. But they said those violations were not sufficient to annul the results.

Afterward, they urged the public to take the "high road," but as the Chicago Tribune's Colin McMahon notes, many Mexicans remain deeply suspicious of the process.

"López Obrador supporters accuse the tribunal of making a political decision rather than a judicial one. They also complain that the court's seven judges, whose decisions cannot be appealed, have failed to fully report their findings in a timely and open manner.

"'This is a lack of transparency, because the public does not know the results of the recount,' said Horacio Duarte, an electoral lawyer for López Obrador's coalition, after the tribunal last week released only partial results of its partial recount. The post-electoral legal process has left many Mexicans confused, and with good reason. The recount alone is a complex issue."

What Next?

Inauguration day is Dec. 1. But much could still happen between now and then. López Obrador has threatened to disrupt Mexico City's annual independence day celebration, known as "el grito," on Sept. 15. The following day he plans to convene his own political convention in the Zocalo, setting the stage for a showdown with the Mexican military, which traditionally parades in the square that day.

"During a ceremony to commemorate the graduation of military officers, National Defense Secretary Gerardo Clemente Vega García said the army will march on Sept. 16, Independence Day, but gave no mention of demonstrating activists who are camped out along the soldiers´ traditional route. 'On Sept. 16 the armed forces will march as always, at the service of society and the nation´s branches of power, honoring the heroes who have helped to forge this great nation,' said Vega, who was accompanied by President Vicente Fox and other top politicians. 'No Mexican should forget our history.'"

Of course, Campaign Conexión suspects López Obrador might have a different interpretation of Mexican history.

Instead of preparing one last victory lap for the man who ousted the once-dominant PRI, the plan is to erect a veritable shield of armor around Fox.

All day Friday, Mexicans strategized about street and subway closings as political commentators speculated on what will happen at 7 p.m. (central time), when Fox is scheduled to stand before Congress to give the speech, known as the Informe.

"As Mr. Fox prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address Friday, that work includes resolving a political crisis that could plunge the nation into violence. He might not even be able to enter the site of his speech, the lower house of Congress, because protesters are threatening to block his path," explains Alfredo Corchado of the Dallas Morning News.

"While these addresses normally are used to discuss poverty, crime and other issues, Mr. Fox confronts a volatile civil disobedience campaign by leftist politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador, designed to reverse presidential election results that left him the apparent loser. The results showed Felipe Calderón of Mr. Fox's National Action Party beat Mr. López Obrador by 239,000 votes."

Narrated Photo Gallery: Vicente Fox's 'Revolution'

Yes, after camping out in tents in Mexico City's Zocalo for weeks, López Obrador and his supporters are now threatening to block entrances to the legislative building, create traffic gridlock and even physically surround Fox so that he cannot speak. López Obrador and his Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, are targeting Fox because they say the president has illegally aided Calderón during and after the July 2 election.

Not Quite Official, But...

We're still waiting for Mexico's election tribunal to certify Calderón as the official winner of the July 2 election -- the seven judges have until Sept. 6. But ever since the panel rejected López Obrador's demand for a full recount, virtually everyone agrees the certification is a fait accompli, and Calderón will almost certainly be sworn in as president on Dec. 1.

The tribunal's refusal to acquiesce prompted López Obrador and his PRD party to raise the stakes once again. He has promised massive, unspecified civil disobedience today and beyond.

"The Informe is only one potential flash point in the PRD-PAN confrontation that has shaken the nation since the July 2 election. Another is Sept. 16, Independence Day, when the PRD plans to hold a 'constitutional convention' in the Zócalo - despite the traditional military parade that arrives at the square in the morning and the president's annual 'grito' from the National Palace the evening before. PRD officials on Wednesday said they don't seek a confrontation with the military, but they would not reschedule or relocate the convention."

Known by his initials, AMLO is now talking about scheduling meetings of his parallel government every six months.

In preparation for this evening's event, government workers have fortified gates around the legislative building and officials announced they were doubling security forces. Between 8,000 and 8,500 city police officers and federal agents will be on hand. (And Campaign Conexión thought the Secret Service went a little overboard in Washington for the president's State of the Union!)

Federal police step up security in preparation for President Vicente Fox's final state of the nation address. (REUTERS/Andrew Winning)

Both sides are amassing small arsenals.

"For weeks, an army of federal police wearing riot gear has stood behind the 12-foot-high steel wall protecting the compound. There also were water cannons mounted on trucks. Roads were blocked and officials announced late Thursday that most subway stations in the area, as well as near the presidential compound, would be closed - a quick way to ensure that if demonstrators want to get anywhere near Congress, they're going to have to walk for miles."

What makes the drama especially interesting -- and different from most protest movements in the U.S. -- is that many lawmakers are vowing to participate, and not just with speeches. It won't be enough for Fox to simply make it inside the chamber. Once there, he'll have to contend with a sizable block of PRD legislators who will certainly hoot and holler, and very possibly physically block him.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

For all the threats from PRD, the Fox team is putting on a good face, with claims that he won't be deterred. But behind the scenes, discussions have been underway about other options, including a "Plan B" option that has him arriving by helicopter if protesters make it impossible for his motorcade to navigate the downtown streets.

As in the United States, the Mexican president is not required to deliver the speech in person; it has simply become a tradition. Fox could send a written report to Congress or address the nation directly from the safe confines of a radio or television studio.

According to El Universal, "PAN leaders also huddled Thursday, including an evening session called by its Senate leader, Santiago Creel. Party officials promised to 'protect' the president, though without answering any violence with their own. 'We PAN legislators won't be provoked,' said Marko Antonio Cortés Mendoza, a PAN senator.

"In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL Thursday, Cortés said Fox should deliver his speech on television if he is prevented from giving it at the Chamber. 'It's a way for him to reach every Mexican's house, so they can be aware of the achievements made during his last year in office,' he said."

Either way, the Fox camp is privately putting out the word that this will be a brief speech.

The former Coca Cola executive is finishing his six-year term with popularity ratings that would make George W. Bush salivate.

But Mexican surveys can be deceiving. In a country where positions of authority garner great respect, it is common for citizens to tell pollsters they like or approve of a leader. More interesting in the poll are Fox's ratings in specific categories. While he scores high for honesty and managing the economy, Mexicans are disenchanted with his performance in the areas of job creation, security and combating corruption.

Regardless of what happens this evening, Calderón won't be in the chamber. The almost-president-elect plans to watch the speech from his transition offices. Calderón aides say he is merely following tradition; Fox, for instance, did not attend Ernesto Zedillo's final speech. But they weren't exactly on the same team. Were it not for the tribunal and López Obrador's challenges, Campaign Conexion suspects tonight's address would have been the perfect opportunity for him to symbolically hand the torch to Calderón.

Now it looks as though the Harvard-educated Calderón will mark his victory on Sept. 10. Juan Camilo Mourino, head of Calderón's transition team, said the PAN has a right to celebrate. (No word on where the López Obrador folks will be that day.)

At a meeting with party leaders in Cuernevaca, Calderón sounded a conciliatory note, speaking of "opening the door to dialogue." Where there is division, he suggested, we will sow unity, where there are insults, we will speak the truth.

Back at the Encampment

For those of you unable to get to the Zocalo, Jonathan Roeder, has an excellent account of his recent visit to the tent city.

"Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, secretary general of López Obrador's left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and also in charge of the encampment's logistics, showed reporters a map of the encampment, complete with the locations of the 80 gas tanks that are firing the grills and greasy stovetops that feed the movement.

"City civil protection officials, he added, constantly worry about the camp, telling them the amount of fire extinguishers required."

Roeder introduces us to student demonstrators, an enemy "infiltrator" and a man from López Obrador's home state, charged with serving up meals for his compadres. "The cook, Don Pedro Gallinos, said he occasionally gets special orders from López Obrador himself, who hails from the southern Gulf state. His favorite dish, they said, is pancita, or tripe stew, prepared Tabasco- style with garbanzo beans and tomatoes."

The tribunal stopped short of certifying Calderón as the winner in the July 2 election. But most analysts say that is likely to occur soon -- perhaps today, perhaps later this week.

With his charges of massive election fraud, López Obrador had sparked a political crisis in the fledgling democracy. Loyal supporters took to the streets, joining the charismatic former mayor is his demand for a full recount. The tribunal however ordered a recount of just 9 percent of the 42 million votes cast and finally yesterday, released the tally.

In the end, it hardly mattered. The seven judges announced that the recount shaved just 4,000 votes off Calderón's original 244,000-vote margin. In their unanimous ruling, they concluded the mistakes made in the original count were minor and a far cry from the widespread fraud López Obrador alleged.

"The tribunal said the smattering of administrative and mathematical errors in thousands of polling places were not acts of 'bad faith' and did not merit throwing out the results of those polling places," reported the Mexico edition of the Miami Herald. 'This tribunal can say to the citizenry that their votes were counted fairly,' said magistrate Fernando Ojesto. 'We have followed the principle of one man, one vote, and of effective suffrage.'

"The jurists also rebuked the López Obrador campaign, saying it had failed to provide concrete evidence of irregularities in the thousands of challenged precincts where it had claimed fraud."

Calderón, who has been working with a transition team since early July, reiterated his belief that the election had been "clean."

"Speaking to lawmakers in Mexico City, Mr. Calderón said he was pleased that the court's ruling had confirmed his victory. 'Just as important as the result of the tribunal's ruling,' he said, 'is that the citizens know the quality of the election we had, that doubts are cleared away and all the malice that has been sown among the citizens is eliminated.'"

Calderón said he supported the right to free expression, but also promised to lead with a "firm hand."

Dismissive and Determined

Not surprisingly, López Obrador remained defiant. Speaking from the downtown square where he and supporters have lived in tents for several weeks, the man known as AMLO said he would "never recognize a government headed by Calderón."

"'Never more will we accept that an illegal and illegitimate government is installed in our country,' he told thousands in the Zócalo, Mexico City's central square. He also questioned the tribunal's ability to resolve the dispute fairly, saying 'the judges made a political decision, not a judicial one.'

"'Today the Electoral Tribunal decided to validate the fraud against the will of the citizens expressed at the ballot boxes,' he said. 'With this decision, constitutional order is broken and the path is opened to a usurper.'"

Many of his supporters sounded equally determined.

"While Monday's ruling seems to all but assure Calderón of the presidency, it will almost certainly fail to satisfy many of the 15 million Mexicans who voted for López Obrador," reports Houston Chronicle bureau chief Dudley Althaus. 'It's not fair that they defraud an entire country,' said Ruben Gonzalez, 17, a public high school senior doing his biology homework under a giant tarp at the sit-in. 'The rich get richer and the poor stay the same or get poorer. It's not fair.'"

One large question remains: What will be López Obrador's next move? He is threatening to continue the mass civil disobedience he unleashed a month ago.

"In the clearest indication yet that he is planning to form a parallel government if Calderón is declared the winner, López Obrador told thousands of cheering supporters Sunday that they should decide during the protest-camp convention whether to name a president or leader of a peaceful, civil resistance movement.

"López Obrador himself would accept either post, but said he was leaving it up to his supporters to decide what title to award him.

'What is chosen during the convention will have representation and that representation can be a legitimate president of the republic or, if the convention chooses, a head of a resistance government or the coordinator of peaceful civil resistance,' he said."

Ready for a Resolution

Even with such tough talk, many could sense in recent days that the end of this political saga was near. The first hints came Sunday evening, when the judges scheduled a daylong public session for Monday. After operating behind closed doors and in complete silence, the tribunal said it intended to consider the 375 legal complaints in public.

By late afternoon, things seemed to be moving steadily in Calderón's direction.

"Two of the court's seven judges said recounts and annulments ordered in the legal complaints that they handled had made little or no difference to the original results."

Because the recount did not produce any dramatic shift in the vote totals, most political experts in and out of Mexico felt confident enough to predict the outcome even as the tribunal continued its marathon session.

"The judges likely will rule against López Obrador, 52, and ratify Calderón, 44, as the winner of the election, said Todd Eisenstadt, a professor of government at American University in Washington. The July recount showed Calderón beat López Obrador by 243,934 ballots, or 0.6 percentage points.

"The evidence that López Obrador's team has presented as proof of fraud so far has been very flimsy," Eisenstadt said, in a story that moved midday Monday on the Bloomberg news wire.

Reforma, the Mexican newspaper that has demonstrated pro-Calderón leanings for some time, released poll results over the weekend suggesting the public is tiring of the tumult. Nearly 70 percent of the people surveyed oppose López Obrador's Sept. 16 convention.

Additionally, the survey suggested López Obrador's support has declined slightly since the July 2 voting. If the vote were held today, Calderón would win the five-way race with 43 percent, according to the poll.

The Mexican daily, El Universal, announced in an editorial that it was convening a series of forums to foster discussions aimed at restoring the "social cohesion" that has been seriously damaged by the electoral morass.

And there were plenty of signs the López Obrador camp felt the winds shifting too. Top adviser Manuel Camacho Solis, writing Monday in El Universal, argued that from a legal standpoint, "an annulment is more than justified." But his plea for the judges to make a "last reflection" had a hint of resignation to it.

Businesses that rely heavily on tourists -- cabbies, restaurant owners and hotel managers -- expressed relief that the demonstrators might soon disperse.

For weeks, hotels have been greeting guests with a bright yellow pamphlet warning of the "civil movement as a result of Mexico's recent elections." Printed in both Spanish and English, the "Dear Visitor" card distributed by the tourism department promised that aside from some inconvenient traffic jams, Mexico City was open for business.

Now, they hope, López Obrador will find a graceful exit. Many speculate that may come at the Sept. 16 convocation. Under this scenario, AMLO's supporters would "vote" for him to lead the multi-year resistance movement, the occupation of the Zócalo would no longer be necessary and everyone could go home.

López Obrador had leveled a host of allegations, including claims that tally sheets were changed, voters were paid off and computers were rigged by Mexico's electoral institute, which oversaw the balloting. But the tribunal was unimpressed by the evidence López Obrador submitted.

The electoral court has until Sept. 6 to declare a winner, and it must still respond to López Obrador's demand that the election be annulled.

Read the full story from The Post's Manuel Roig-Franzia.

The demonstrators wrapped in sleeping bags in the Zocalo clearly have no plans to take down their Virgins or their crucifixes. And Rivera seems disinclined to apologize for calling them crazy. So they sit across the street from each other, the protesters and the cardinal, immovable in their grudge match, with church bells clanging overhead.

Read the full story.

Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador who prompted this season of uncertainty by challenging those results, remains camped out in Mexico City's downtown square, known as the Zocalo. (Read all about Campaign Conexión's visit to the tent city.)

Calderón, nominee of the ruling National Action Party (or PAN), is developing a transition plan that interestingly embraces some of the social policies his rival ran on. All of a sudden, the conservative who ran on promises to continue the policies of President Vicente Fox is talking about increasing cash handouts to poor, as well as reinvigorating housing and healthcare programs.

The coming weeks are a big test of this young democracy and the august Wall Street Journal editorial board argues that no less than Mexico's international reputation rests on the shoulders of the tribunal.

"Today, however, Mexico may be on the brink of undoing a generation of hard-won political reform," according to the editorial. "Amid the inevitable legal arcana that surround election challenges, the greater fear is political -- that the tribunal will bend beneath Mexico's notoriously backward-looking pressures.

"The tribunal's decision is a crucial test for Mexican modernity. Mexicans who had reason to believe that their country was evolving toward a pluralistic democracy supported by strong independent institutions are right to be worried, along with foreign investors and international creditors."

The Lame Duck

As Campaign Conexión has been reporting for some time, Fox is growing increasingly agitated with López Obrador's agitating. The latest whopper by the outgoing president was his statement that López Obrador is "messianic."

Not one to be outdone in the whopper category, López Obrador declared this week that Mexico could wake up to "two presidents" on Sept. 17. His scenario: the tribunal certifies Calderón as the winner, while the national convention López Obrador is convening on Sept. 16 "certifies" him as the winner.

Naturally, this set off a batch of angry retorts from the other side.

"Prominent members of Calderón's National Action Party (PAN) responded forcefully, if predictably, Thursday.

'It´s another wild idea by a caudillo obsessed with power,' said party secretary general José Espina. Rubén Aguilar, President Fox´s official spokesperson, called López Obrador a 'fantasizer.'"

With little information coming out of the tribunal and the rhetoric starting to sound like a continuous loop of "Law and Order" reruns (same story, just different script), Campaign Conexión paid a visit this week to the Zocalo to check up on the López Obrador troops.

The square, now filled with enormous white tents, is believed to be the second or third largest in the world, behind Moscow's Red Square and possibly Beijing's Tiananmen. For weeks, López Obrador and his followers have been living in the tents in the Zocalo and along several major Mexico City boulevards.

What is striking about the makeshift encampment is that it actually resembles a small village. Under one centrally located tent is a giant map, indicating where to find portable toilets, water, medics and each state delegation. Separate areas have been designated for cooking, watching videos, youth activities such as painting and even exercise classes. Most of the campers have laid sleeping bags and blankets on wood pallets, in the hopes of not being flooded by the daily rains.

Women seated at folding tables were busy dicing onions and plunking them into giant pots. Somehow (perhaps with the help of sympathetic city officials), this tent city has electricity and gas. Political parties, naturally, have plenty of propaganda to distribute.

Just across the street stands Mexico's Catholic cathedral. Outside, vendors offers "buen precios" on cold drinks, miniature umbrellas, scarves and López Obrador dolls. Inside, a priest conducted midday mass for a group of a few dozen.

The Zocalo encampment is noisy - what with speeches blaring from speakers, car horns honking, TVs blabbing. But it is not violent, not even tense; more like somnolent. Several people interviewed said they were unemployed. One tent housed a group of taxi cab drivers who seemed to be alternating between driving shifts and sit-in shifts. Many tents are festooned with hand-made signs mimicking López Obrador's call for every vote to be counted ("voto por voto") and many that had not very nice messages for Calderón, Fox and the tribunal.

It all seemed very routine, far from radical or rebellious. And it also had the feel of semi-permanence. It's a bit hard to envision the few thousand packing up and leaving - and that is what worries many in Mexico.

On Sept. 1, Fox is scheduled to give his annual state of the nation address. López Obrador is threatening to erect blockades and Fox is posting armed security on the grounds of the congressional building where he will speak.

"Later Thursday, the PRD delegation called on President Fox to remove the military from the grounds of the Chamber of Deputies. The armed forces are providing security ahead of Fox´s Sept. 1 State of the Nation Address. The PRD referred to the heightened security as a 'strategy of occupation.'"

Of even greater concern is what might happen on Sept. 15, the day Mexico celebrates its independence and the annual military parade the next day. Typically, the celebration known as the "grito," and the review of the troops, are major affairs in the Zocalo. But it's not clear there will be space for the revelers and the demonstrators.

Fellow Mexico blogger Ana Maria Salazar has compiled an impressive catalogue of security concerns, statistics and advice.

She reports that contrary to conventional wisdom, Mexico City's murder rate is well below other major cities in Latin America. But robberies are a continuing and ongoing problem. Salazar also shares with us, security tips from Jon M. French, managing director for IPSA International de México.

Some in-the-know are beginning to hint that López Obrador might be willing to negotiate a compromise permitting the annual festivities to take place alongside the demonstrators. But for now, that's just speculation...

Fox also noted, accurately, that the mass demonstrations by supporters of Andrés Manuel López Obrador have been confined largely to the capital city. This is noteworthy because López Obrador had called for nationwide civil disobedience and it appears that many across Mexico, including people who voted for him, are discouraged, bored or simply have other things to do.

Just in case anyone missed the point, Fox's spokesman reinforced el presidente's remarks. Campaign Conexión senses some concern in the Fox administration that things may not go too well for the boss's final address to the nation Sept. 1. López Obrador has threatened to block the annual event and also interrupt Mexico's military parade on Sept. 16.

From the outset, the López Obrador camp has accused Fox of inappropriately meddling in the election. It is one of the central charges in the PRD's 900-page election complaint. So it only stood to reason that López Obrador's campaign coordinator would describe Fox's most recent comments as more of the same, intended to stoke already high post-election tensions.

Meanwhile, AMLO, as he is known to followers, has remained camped out on the Zocalo, an enormous downtown square now closed off to cars. Adam Thompson of the Financial Times reports it's getting hot inside López Obrador's tent. During his visit to the encampment, Thompson spotted "Sources on the History of the Mexican Revolution, a large leather-bound book with gold leaf on the spine."

"Mr. López Obrador has been reading about José Vasconcelos, a prominent revolutionary figure who later put down his loss in the 1929 presidential election to fraud and called on supporters to begin an armed struggle. And like that of Vasconcelos, Mr. López Obrador is aware that the story of his own struggle might be retold for future generations.

"Mr. López Obrador admits that "there has been a drain of support" since he began his civil resistance campaign. He also accepts that less than half the population supports him in his struggle. In the capital, for example, he believes he now has the backing of 38 percent of citizens. But he insists that he had no option but to challenge the authorities."

Columnist Kenneth Emmond sees some hypocrisy in the man who hollers "plot!" then plots to "polarize Mexico even more." And now, Emmond argues, the drawn-out saga is impacting the economy and many of the low-income workers López Obrador has said he represents.

"City officials, who, like López Obrador, hail from the PRD, say business is off by, maybe, five percent. Business owners say sales are down by 50 to 70 percent, and this during a peak tourism month. No doubt the truth lies somewhere in between.

"Even people López Obrador claims to represent are affected. The Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS) says more than 800 workers have been dismissed from affected businesses. Owners say that's just for starters; if something isn't done soon, hundreds of businesses will fold."
uced an unusual degree of income inequality in most of these countries."

"Gonzalo Brockmann, president of Mexico City´s Hotel Association, said more than 1,000 jobs and 2.5 billion pesos (US$231 million) have been lost in the tourist sector since the protest encampments along Paseo de la Reforma and two other streets went up after a July 30 mega-march. He claimed the traffic and access problems created by the encampments have cost the worst-hit downtown business as much as 80 percent of their expected income."

Academics and political elites are still fretting over the longer-term implications of the 2006 presidential saga. Alberto Aziz Nassif, guest columnist in El Universal from the Center for Investigations and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology, writes that Mexico's young democracy is undergoing such a weighty test that the country could lose its battle in the transformation to democracy.

Columnist Fred Rosen frames the present uncertainty with a series of what he calls "uncomfortable questions."

"Assuming that Calderón is officially declared president-elect at some point over the next few weeks, can Mexicans look forward to six years of continuous AMLO-led civil disobedience? Will a less-than-legitimate Calderón presidential term be marked by an on-going disruption of civic and economic activity? Will the government find itself completely hamstrung, controlling just over one-third of the legislative votes, facing nothing but hostility from its opposition, unable to get anything done?

"Do we face six years of dissension and disobedience? It remains to be seen whether AMLO can hold his militant, disobedient movement together as it leaves behind the clear-cut demand of 'vote by vote, polling place-by-polling place,' and begins to champion demands that can be achieved only building a progressive consensus over a long time horizon."

Although much of the news has focused on growing discontent with the blockades, the leftist is not entirely alone. A group of students and professors have announced they are going to demonstrate on his behalf.

Last week, some lawmakers from López Obrador's PRD were injured in a scuffle with police, and both the outgoing and incoming mayors are square in his camp.

"The street barricades are seen as a political disaster for Alejandro Encinas, the outgoing mayor of Mexico City and a close López Obrador ally. Encinas' approval rating has plunged in opinion polls since the protest movement began. Encinas controls Mexico City's police force: Rather than reopen the streets, the officers appear to be acting as the protesters' security guards.

"When Calderón and Fox said preventing the Independence Day celebrations from going forward would be an assault on Mexican patriotism, Encinas responded that the barricades might be lifted temporarily to allow the traditional military parade."

Remember Those Tapes?

"Claims by Andres Manuel López Obrador that a powerful cabal of politicians and the mega-wealthy have conspired to rob him of this summer's presidential election have long been dismissed by his critics as paranoia," writes the Houston Chronicle. "But the interrogation of a real estate developer, taped two years ago in Cuba and broadcast here Friday on a radio program, might well confirm the notion that just because a man could be paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get him."

Aides to López Obrador wasted no time in shipping the tapes to the seven-judge tribunal, which has until Sept. 6 to certify the election results. Most expect a verdict before then (let's hope!), but beyond ordering a partial recount of about 9 percent of the votes cast July 2, the tribunal has given no hint as to what it will do when.

Fellow Mexico blogger Ana Maria Salazar recommends this piece by Chicago professor Gary Becker on the leftist shift in Latin America. It's a bit dated, but an interesting read from a blog he and Richard Posner publish jointly.

"One legitimate reason for the opposition to capitalism in Latin America is that it frequently has been 'crony capitalism' as opposed to the competitive capitalism that produces desirable social outcomes. Crony capitalism is a system where companies with close connections to the government gain economic power not by competing better, but by using the government to get favored and protected positions.

"An additional factor behind the recent resurgence of left wing parties in Latin America is the unequal access to education and financial capital that has prod

What had been largely peaceful demonstrations by supporters of left-leaning Andrés Manuel López Obrador turned testy on Monday. Several legislators from López Obrador's Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, say they were injured in scuffles with police officers spraying tear gas.

Now 3,000 -- yes, 3,000! -- security agents from both federal and city forces are guarding the Mexican legislative building, known as San Lázaro. By the way, although they are wearing riot gear, the Preventive Police Force, says it is not armed. They are only using high-pressure water guns to subdue trouble-makers. Security officials have also installed a giant fence.

Fox, who ended 71 years of rule by the PRI with his election in 2000, was prohibited by law from seeking a second term. Through the spring, he used his bully pulpit and advertising budget to mock López Obrador and praise National Action Party nominee Felipe Calderón. When Calderón was declared the winner by 240,000 votes, Fox quickly called to congratulate him, even though the results were (and are still) being challenged.

With much of downtown Mexico City clogged with López Obrador supporters camped in the Zocalo and along major boulevards, Fox is attempting to play elder statesman. He said his government is "totally open" to dialogue to help resolve the political crisis and called for "order, peace and harmony" as a formula for creating a great nation.

Although he does not leave office until Dec. 1, Fox aides have been offering up interviews with the lame duck, including with the New York Times:

Mr. Fox predicted in the interview that Mexico's electoral institutions, which he described as "the most modern, well-structured, efficient electoral systems in the world," would bring the crisis to a peaceful end.

"This is a country of institutions," he said. "I am sure that this test, this real test of the democratic system, will be passed and resolved according to the law and democratic principles."

...On Sunday, Mr. Fox refused to give an opinion about the demonstrations led by Mr. López Obrador, which have snarled traffic across Mexico City for two weeks. But he made it clear he believed that disputes over the presidency should be fought in the courts, not the streets.

At a ceremony marking the anniversary of the founding of the Federal Electricity Commission, Fox said: "I once again call on each and every citizen, on the different political actors, to seek unity and dialogue together, to defend democracy and the institutions together."

The Fox administration has even been in contact with López Obrador representatives to try to resolve post-electoral crisis. The focus of discussions by Interior department officials is Fox's Sept. 1 annual address to the nation. López Obrador has called on his backers to block entrances to the speech.

So far, PRD leaders are denying they are engaged in talks with the president. (Hard to say if that's true or just political cover.)

The editorial writers at El Universal see Fox's efforts as a welcome -- albeit surprising -- effort.

"Mexico City police chief Joel Ortega, who on Tuesday criticized the federal crackdown on the PRD protesters, said Wednesday that the ongoing Army presence was out of proportion to the situation. 'They need to be careful that this doesn't generate a spiral of violence that later can't be controlled,' Ortega said, referring to the use of the armored vehicles. The Calderón camp reiterated its support for the crackdown on Wednesday."

Changing Tone and Tactics

Reading the tea leaves, it appears López Obrador is moving toward the next phase of this endless political drama. Recent comments about his planned convention Sept. 16 hint that perhaps he realizes Calderón will likely be sworn in as the next president.

"'Never again will we allow them to install an illegal and illegitimate government in our country,' he told a baying crowd. 'Here and now begins a new period in Mexico...with the sovereign power of the people we will undertake the changes and transformations that this country needs.'

"For Jorge Zepeda, a political analyst in Mexico City, the speech signaled the start of a more radical phase in Mr. López Obrador's campaign to revert the result of last month's election.

"For the first time since election day, for example, Mr. López Obrador concentrated less on claims of election fraud and more on what he would do once Mr. Calderón, candidate for Mr. Fox's National Action Party (PAN) was named president-elect."

Washington Post editorial writers (who operate independently from the news staff) are getting tired of the López Obrador antics, and that counts as news south of the border.

Several indicators suggest Mexico's economy is at its healthiest in the six years Fox has presided. But many analysts worry that the political instability and divided Congress will slow that momentum.

"The showdown has deeply divided the Mexican public and raised fears that the next Congress won't be able to reach a consensus on energy, labor and tax changes that experts say Mexico needs for sustained economic growth," reports Marla Dickerson in the Los Angeles Times. "Mexico's GDP growth averaged less than 2% a year in the first five years of Fox's administration. Analysts say the nation's economy needs to expand at least 5% annually to create the 1 million jobs a year needed to provide employment for the growing population."

A Very Important Issue

Immigration is a high priority with U.S. officials these days. So a prominent Texas congressman and the University of Texas at El Paso convened a two-day conference on border issues.

"About 250,000 vehicles and 132,000 pedestrians cross from Mexico to the United States every day, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, one of the conference organizers."

How important is the topic? Take a look at what Mariano Castillo of the San Antonio Express-News discovered.

"Underscoring the importance of the conference, two high-ranking Bush administration figures, National Director of Intelligence John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale, were slated to participate. But at the last minute both sent their deputies instead."

Now that's important.

So for now, it's status quo in Mexico, which means thousands of soggy protesters clogging vast stretches of downtown, Felipe Calderón behaving as if he's the president-elect and much of the country getting a little bit peeved at Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Because many of the polling places were closed to the public, Campaign Conexión cannot say with certainty what the final tally will show. But reports from the two camps and other overseers suggest that while López Obrador picked up a few thousand votes, it was not enough to erase Calderón's 240,000-vote margin.

"López Obrador's aides contended Sunday that evidence had surfaced during the partial recount that ballots were missing in some polling places while extra ballots had turned up in others. They cited the irregularities as evidence that ballot boxes had been stuffed in some precincts and that marked ballots had been disposed of in others," according to the New York Times.

"On Sunday, López Obrador made it clear the protests would continue if the court designates Calderón president-elect. He announced plans to disrupt Fox's annual state of the union message to Congress on Sept. 1 and to try to stop the court from giving Calderón the official document naming him president on Sept. 6. He also threatened to hijack the traditional independence day celebration on Sept. 15 and said he would convoke a 'national democratic convention' the next day to decide 'the role of civil disobedience in Mexico's public life over the next years.'"

Protest Fatigue

Hotel managers, restauranteurs and cab drivers -- even those sympathetic to López Obrador's call for a full recount -- are grumbling that the leftist leader's blockades are hurting business in Mexico City. Some visitors to the Zocalo, the public square where AMLO and his followers have been living, report that trash is beginning to pile up and city workers must contend with a growing rodent problem.

On Monday, things got tense in front of several Banamex banking centers and Mexican legislative buildings. Police used tear gas to try to subdue protesters, including some prominent members of the PRD who were blocking entrances to Congress. Several of the PRD lawmakers who say they were injured in the scuffle are threatening to sue.

A solid majority of Mexico City residents agree with their former mayor that some type of fraud took place in the election, according to a new poll in El Universal. But even they appear to be losing patience with his tent cities. In an Aug. 9 survey of 600 people, 65 percent of Mexico City residents said they disagree with his encampment strategy and 68 percent said the demonstrations should not continue.

"While the two weeks of sit-ins have severely affected many downtown businesses, most of the capital's harried motorists and commuters seem to have adjusted," writes Houston Chronicle bureau chief Dudley Althaus. "That might change next week, when schools reopen. The tradition of mothers driving children to school and picking them up adds two more rush hours to the Mexican capital."

What About the Party?

Calderón, who ran his campaign on promises to continue the work of President Vicente Fox, has laid low during much of this strange post-election period, occasionally addressing business or civic groups. On Monday, he urged his rival to call an end to the demonstrations, especially the ones timed for national holidays, such as the Sept. 15 grito celebrating the Mexican revolution.

For those of you who have not experienced the annual independence festivities, it is a BIG DEAL. As many of 100,000 people generally fill the Zocalo for an evening of revelry and full-throated patriotism. Fellow blogger Ana Maria Salazar explains why the demonstrations planned for Sept. 15 and 16 could be the most serious -- and the most politically dicey for Fox and Mexico City mayor Alejandro Encinas.

Diez y Seiz "is when the traditional military parade takes place, starting off from the Zocalo where they present the flag and military honors to the President. Encinas insist [sic] that this parade can take place even thought the Zocalo is taken over. Unless the parade takes place somewhere else, Encinas is hallucinating. And it is extremely dangerous to have a large contingency of soldiers marching among protesters. It is a recipe for disaster."

For the record, the tribunal met Monday to consider challenges in two congressional races. In addition to the recount, the tribunal is evaluating more than 170 separate legal complaints. It has until Aug. 31 to release the recount results and must certify a new president by Sept. 6.

Shifty, Shifty

As it became clear over the weekend that the partial recount would not overturn Calderón's apparent lead, his rival began shifting tactics.

"López Obrador and his top aides have said that the results should be annulled from 7,442 polling places, or 5.7 percent of the 130,000 polling stations -- mostly in places where Calderón won -- because of alleged voter fraud. They say that would tip the election in López Obrador's favor.

"Local media reported that variations of only a few thousand votes have been found, far short of what López Obrador would need to overcome a 244,000-vote deficit. Horacio Duarte, who heads López Obrador's legal team, said his figures showed Calderón had lost at least 13,679 votes in the partial recount."

An insightful piece in the Los Angeles Times highlights the inconsistencies in López Obrador's case over the past six weeks.

"But the candidate's street campaign for a full recount has made his lawyers' job tougher. He's simultaneously called for a recount and declared that the election was tainted by fraud. The contradictory positions - why recount a fraudulent election? - have weakened his legal argument."

The issue may be less about legality and more about legitimacy, top López Obrador adviser Manuel Camacho Solis writes in El Universal. Unless the competing political factions can reach some consensus and resolve any lingering doubts in the minds of the public, the country will be "ungovernable," he argues, and the political crisis will be "profound and prolonged."

Humpty-Dumpty Nation

Well-respected analyst Denise Dresser worries that Mexico is a nation broken into many, many pieces. How, she wonders in an article published in Reforma, will it put itself back together again.

Like Dresser, the editorial writers at the Dallas Morning News are very down on the leftist.

"There's a striking irony at play here: The candidate who's trying to make himself look like Mexico's new democratic savior, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, personifies the old power-man way of doing things.

"The second-place finisher in Mexico's July 2 election, Mr. López Obrador is using the cult of personality to get the results overturned. He is getting closer to the Fidel Castro/Hugo Chávez model that feeds upon an image of a man of the people - except that, in reality, he sums the law up in himself."

A special thanks to columnist Kenneth Emmond who has found an optimistic note in this election saga. Noting that it's highly unlikely López Obrador will disappear any time soon, Emmond, suggests the two politicians may be falling into their proper roles. And that could be a good thing all around.

"Working the crowds to force institutional change is a role López Obrador is uniquely suited for. He has the right blend of paranoia, stubbornness, chutzpah, and the good politician's love of being the center of attention together with an unerring instinct for what his crowd likes to see.

"That combination of traits could be dangerous in a president for a society that aspires to operate under the rule of law, because it tends to set the will of 'the people' above the law. But it's ideal for a watchdog role in a country like Mexico, where rule of law is shot through with so many imperfections.

"Indeed, a political victory for Felipe Calderón and a loss for López Obrador might be the best possible formula for making a better Mexico - a kind of political division of labor. He's better suited to addressing crowds of ordinary Mexicans than negotiating the finer points of proposed legislation with congressional leaders."

Campaign Conexión apologizes for not spotting this sooner, but Sara Miller Llana's takeout on the corn component of the NAFTA trade agreement is worth reading -- even belatedly.

"The politics of corn continue to escalate, as a 2008 NAFTA deadline looms for Mexico to scrap its corn and bean import tariffs. And the disputed July 2 election has only heightened those tensions. On the campaign trail, runner-up Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would renegotiate NAFTA provisions to protect the nation's corn and bean farmers.

"'[Corn in Mexico] is one of the areas that has the potential to become extremely explosive,' says Jon Huenemann, a former assistant US trade representative who helped negotiate many agricultural provisions under NAFTA. 'US-Mexican trade is huge and getting bigger and more significant to producers and consumers. And yet for the same reason the sensitivities are getting potentially more complicated. ... It's a bit of a tinderbox.'"

The opposing sides have waged a spin war since the recount began last Wednesday. López Obrador, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, and his top lieutenants say the recount has confirmed their fraud suspicions and exposed the "disappearance" of 80,000 ballots. Arturo Sarukhan, a top Calderón adviser, painted a different picture in an interview Sunday, saying the recount revealed no changes in more than 90 percent of the recounted polling places.

Mexico's special electoral court has until Sept. 6 to certify a winner.

Judging from the front-page coverage in the tabloid La Jornada, the errors in the tabulations of the July 2 presidential vote seem endless.

But coverage by El Universal is more subdued, referring to minor tally errors being discovered in the first day of the recount:

"Officials reviewing ballots at a district office in the northern city of Monterrey took more than an hour to count the first of 100 ballot boxes, said Raúl González, a PRD representative helping monitor the tally. 'It's going very slowly," said González. He predicted the count would take four days. At a district office in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, outside of Monterrey, party officials disagreed on what recount results showed.

"'There are normal errors both for them and for us,' Francisco Javier Bustillos, a National Action Party representative, said in an interview at the district office."

Campaign Conexión suggests reading the coverage and then, to borrow from Bill Clinton, triangulate. Somewhere in the middle of all that is the reality of the situation.

Here's what we know:

* Conservative Felipe Calderón, selling himself as the logical extension of President Vicente Fox, won the initial count in the July 2 election by about 240,000 votes.

* His leftist rival, former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, filed a 900-page document alleging massive fraud.

* Mexico's election tribunal ordered a recount of about 9 percent of the total votes cast -- or 4 million votes. The counting (is re-counting a word?) began Wednesday, under the watchful eyes of 180 magistrates, party representatives and reporters who were permitted into some polling places.

"At the Sixth Election District in Jalisco, the magnitude of even a partial re-tallying of votes was evident. After five hours of work, Magistrate José Manuel Mojica, a soft-spoken avuncular man with gray hair and mustache, had managed to get through only 3 of the 247 packets to be opened," McKinley reported in the New York Times. "The judge sat at a green covered table with two lawyers, one representing Mr. López Obrador and one Mr. Calderón, while the head of the election district and one of the local board members counted ballots by hand. A secretary took notes.

"Several problems arose, causing the judge to rub his forehead. In one polling place, 100 fewer ballots were accounted for than were delivered to the poll workers. 'I'm missing a lot of ballots,' the judge told the lawyers."

The tribunal has insisted that the recount be finished by Sunday evening. Although several newspapers are reporting results of the recount each day, the seven judges said no results will be official until they have completed trials weighing the fraud complaints for each district.

Yes, this means Mexico's never-ending presidential election may ruin yet another weekend.

Spinning the Recount

Though no great friend of the press, López Obrador has turned to the venerable Gray Lady to argue his case in the international court of public opinion. In an op-ed published Friday, he writes:

"The largest demonstrations in our history are daily proof that millions of Mexicans want a full accounting of last month's presidential election. ... Unfortunately, the electoral tribunal responsible for ratifying the election results thwarted the wishes of many Mexicans and refused to approve a nationwide recount. Instead, their narrow ruling last Saturday allows for ballot boxes in only about 9 percent of polling places to be opened and reviewed.

"This is simply insufficient for a national election where the margin was less than one percentage point - and where the tribunal itself acknowledged evidence of arithmetic mistakes and fraud, noting that there were errors at nearly 12,000 polling stations in 26 states."

The former mayor of Mexico City used his Times piece to invoke activist leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi to reiterate his call for a full recount: "After all, our aim is to strengthen, not damage, Mexico's institutions, to force them to adopt greater transparency. Mexico's credibility in the world will only increase if we clarify the results of this election."

For a fuller -- albeit decidedly opinionated -- assessment of López Obrador, turn to the writings of George Grayson, a professor at the College of William and Mary. In Friday's Wall Street Journal, Grayson, author of "Mesias Mexicano," recounts López Obrador's childhood in the state of Tabasco, his five years running an institute focused on indigenous peoples and his ingenious "exodus" marches in the early 1990s:

"These Exodus marches catapulted the PRD visionary onto the national stage and impelled his election as national PRD president in 1996. Four years later, he captured the Mexico City mayorship and immediately began to refer to the capital as 'the City of Hope.' There he became the consummate populist caudillo.

"Mr. López Obrador is losing ground even in his own party as a growing number of PRD officials fear that his methods reinforce the image of the left as irresponsible radicals. Still, he truly believes that he is the savior of the downtrodden and he will continue his antics, which he insists are justified because of Mexico's widespread misery. Mr. Calderón's best bet to neutralize the messianic politician will be a policy agenda to spur robust growth and eat away at the poverty that afflicts nearly half of the country's 107.5 million people."

Everyone Has Something to Say

Political rhetoric in the post-election era has not been limited to the candidates. A new analysis by Dan Lund, president of the Mexico-based Lund Americas research company, finds that private corporations are among the most aggressive--and least regulated--political advertisers:

"While the (electoral commission), the PAN, and the Federal Government spots tend to promote their sponsors and indirectly attack the opposition, the private sector spots are 'completely non-party and profoundly political,' in the words of the Society en Movement web site. Eight minute ads on prime time explain how the July 2nd election was 'practically' immune from fraud by virtue of citizen participation, and that in fact the vote-by-vote, casilla-by-casilla count has already been completed.

"Speaking in the name and with the 'voices' of the casilla citizen participants and the people themselves, the ad shamelessly appropriates the inked thumb logo character of the IFE to explain the current situation."

The political parties too are purchasing more advertising time and putting out their best spinmeisters. From Calderón's National Action Party, or PAN, comes the insightful observation that the errors discovered so far are "ordinary and reasonable."

López Obrador's Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, says that the discovery of even the smallest of problems is evidence of the need for the full recount he has demanded for more than a month.

"López Obrador needs to recover an average of 20 missing votes in each precinct to change the result - an outcome many election experts see as unlikely," according to the Houston Chronicle. "We have the obligation to defend democracy and everything that this implies," López Obrador wrote in an open letter distributed Wednesday.

Experts in Mexico appear divided over how the tribunal will react if significant irregularities are discovered in the partial recount.

"In its decision Saturday, the tribunal appeared to close the door on a full recount, with justices saying the law allowed the recounting of ballots only at polling stations that appeared to have made arithmetic errors or shown other irregularities," reports Sam Enriquez in the Los Angeles Times.

In a live chat with Campaign Cónexion Wednesday, legal scholar John Ackerman agreed that it appears the tribunal is leaning against a full recount. But he sees real danger in not doing so: "This is highly problematic because if serious irregularities are discovered in the partial recount there will be increased social demands for a full recount. But, in this case, pretty much the only option the justices have left for themselves is to "annul" or simply not declare the election valid and call for new elections."

Not surprisingly, the PRD is continuing to press for a full recount: "López Obrador himself rejected the whole idea of the partial recount, and repeated his vow that he will never allow the 'imposition' of a fraudulently elected president. Speaking to supporters Wednesday night in Mexico City's Zócalo, the PRD candidate also blasted most of the major media for waging a 'disinformation campaign' and 'accepting the role of pimps for the political right.'"

Supporters of Andres Manuel López Obrador protest outside Mexico's Treasury Secretary building in Mexico City earlier today. The man's sign reads, "Vote for Vote and Poll for Poll". (Reuters)

With each day, AMLO and his followers become more creative, or sinister, depending on your point of view. On Wednesday, demonstrators blocked entrances to three of the five largest banks here.

"The Association of Mexican Banks, in an e-mailed statement, urged authorities to keep the demonstrations within the limits of the law and prevent protests from affecting the rights of others," according to a wire service roundup in the Miami Herald's Mexico City edition. "Roy Caple, a spokesman for HSBC in Mexico City, said in a telephone interview the bank was operating normally.

"On Tuesday López Obrador supporters took over tollbooths on four federal highways, allowing drivers to pass through free of charge. Since July 30 protesters have blocked 12 kilometers of Mexico City's main avenue, filling the eight-lane boulevard with tents. Hotels and businesses in the area have lost about 1.5 billion pesos (US$138 million) because of the protests, the local chamber of commerce said Wednesday."

Much of the chattering class -- as well as many workers -- are fed up with the civil disobedience. But columnist Jesus Ortega Martinez argues that even though this is the largest recount ordered by the tribunal in its history, it is still insufficient to quell uncertainties surrounding the election.

Getting to Know the Neighbors

Senior Calderón adviser Arturo Sarakhan spoke at the National Press Club in Washington earlier this week and attempted to debunk what he described as many "myths" about his man, Mexico's electoral system and the legality of a total recount. Sarakhan reminded the audience that Calderón, who embraces the nickname "disobedient son," was not Fox's choice. But he won the PAN nomination. Second, Sarakhan noted, Calderón trailed López Obrador in most polls for most of the campaign, yet appears to have won.

"It seems easy to forget that, since 1994, Mexico, Mexican society, Mexican political parties of all persuasions, including Mr. López Obrador's PRD, put into motion what is probably one of the most efficient, successful, widely recognized electoral systems and laws and regulations anywhere in the world today."

-- Ceci Connolly

The entire life cycle is happening out there on the Zocalo.