MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The leftist contesting Mexico's July 2 election on the grounds of vote-rigging declared himself president on Wednesday and said his supporters would step up a campaign of civil disobedience next week. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the vote count to conservative rival Felipe Calderon by a tiny margin, said in a television interview that a rally on Sunday in Mexico City would show his backers have the energy to keep up protests.
"I am already president. I won the presidential election. I am president of Mexico by the will of the majority of Mexicans," Lopez Obrador told Univision's "Here and Now" show, scheduled to be aired on Thursday.
"I think the people will not tire," he added. "We are going to beat (our opponents) because the people are on our side."
