Thousands of Mexicans rallied to show support for "shadow president" Manuel Lopez Obrador -- who believes his country's top job was stolen from him in 2006 -- at the mid-point of his would-be presidential term.

A 56-year-old leftist former Mexico City mayor, Lopez Obrador's hopes of leading this country of about 106 million were dashed (but not for long) when official results showed he lost the 2006 race by just some 230,000 votes.