Calderon sworn in as Mexico president - Rally to a protest
lora - 02.12.2006 14:28
Calderon sworn in as Mexico president amid protests
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Rally to a protest against President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City
Thousands of supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stand at Mexico City's Zocalo square during a rally against Felipe Calderon, December 1, 2006.
Rally to a protest against President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City - 203
Rally to a protest against President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City - 205
Rally to a protest against President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City - 212
Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, former presidential candidate of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), attend a rally to protest against the swearing in of Felipe Calderon as Mexico's new President in Mexico City's Zocalo square December 1, 2006. The poster on the right reads 'Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador legitimate president of Mexico' and the one on the left reads 'President of the fraud'.
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Calderon sworn in as Mexico president amid protests
By Kieran Murray Fri Dec 1
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Felipe Calderon was sworn in as Mexico's president on Friday despite fierce protests from leftist lawmakers who say he stole July's election and had vowed to stop him from taking the oath of office in Congress.
Surrounded by bodyguards, the conservative Calderon slipped into the main hall of Congress through a back entrance, quickly declared the oath of office and put on the presidential sash before being rushed out again.
Dozens of rival lawmakers earlier threw punches and chairs at each other and leftists had built barricades of chairs in a an attempt to block the main doors and prevent Calderon from entering the building.
Calderon earlier replaced outgoing President
Vicente Fox, an ally and fellow conservative, in a solemn midnight ceremony at the presidential residence in Mexico City.
Mexico's constitution says the new president automatically takes over on December 1. But it also requires that the incoming leader takes an oath of office and left-wing opponents who say Calderon stole July's election had wanted to wreck the formal inauguration ceremony in Congress.
"I do not ignore the complexity of the political situation or our differences, but I am convinced that today we must put an end to our disagreements," Calderon, 44, said after taking over from Fox in the midnight ceremony and swearing in key cabinet members.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fiery anti-poverty campaigner who narrowly lost the election, called a protest march to Mexico's national concert hall, where Calderon was to deliver a speech later on Friday.
"They violated the constitution and trampled on Mexicans' dignity. They imposed him with a coup, and we are living with the consequences," Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters in Mexico City's vast central square.
The bitterly contested July 2 presidential election has split Mexico, with left-wing parties claiming it was rigged.
Conservative and leftist lawmakers attacked each other in an ugly brawl in Congress earlier this week, and fighting broke out again on Friday morning.
 http://www.edoneo.org/mex.html
 Website: http://www.edoneo.org/
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