Thousands march in Mexico to protest Pena Nieto win

By Noe Torres

MEXICO CITY | Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:16pm EDT

Protesters take part in a march organized by student movement "Yo Soy 132" against Mexico's president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto at Angel de la Independencia monument in Mexico city July 22, 2012. 

Credit: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

(Reuters) - Thousands of people marched through Mexico City on Sunday to denounce the July 1 election of Enrique Pena Nieto as president, though the protest was smaller than one held earlier this month.

Pena Nieto's capture of the presidency for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has been challenged by his rival, leftist runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who alleges the PRI resorted to vote-buying and money laundering to win.

Lopez Obrador is seeking to invalidate the PRI victory at the federal electoral tribunal, and the former mayor of Mexico City has pledged to keep the pressure up on Pena Nieto with rallies around the country starting at the end of this month.

On Sunday, student groups dominated the crowd that marched to the capital's main square, chanting slogans like "Pena Out," "Fraud, Fraud" with banners decrying what the protesters called the "imposition" of the PRI candidate on Mexico.

"The people have woken up. The people realize that the PRI violated the elections," said Luis Martinez, a 25-year-old engineering student from Mexico City.

Ruling party joins money laundering charges in Mexico vote

By Ioan Grillo

MEXICO CITY | Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:28pm EDT

Gustavo Madero (L), president of National Action Party (PAN), speaks beside Jesus Zambrano, president of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), during a news conference at a hotel in Mexico City July 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Henry Romero

(Reuters) - Mexico's ruling conservatives on Thursday lent their support to accusations that President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto benefited from laundered money in his campaign, piling more pressure on the country's next leader.

Gustavo Madero, chairman of the National Action Party (PAN) of outgoing President Felipe Calderon, told reporters he was presenting a legal complaint about money laundering to the federal attorney general's office.

"Any money coming from illicit sources can be laundered money,' Madero said. "It could be stolen, it could be from tax evasion, it could be money they have taken from a company, from the government or from state governments."

Madero was speaking at a joint news conference with Jesus Zambrano, chairman of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the main leftist grouping behind presidential runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has led the accusations against Pena Nieto.