Pre-election Protests In Mexico As Ex-mayor Joins Presidential Race

Meanwhile, thousands of Mexicans took to the streets of the capital to demand a "free vote" and "defense of democracy" as they accused the government of interfering in the election campaign even before it has officially begun.

Dressed in white and pink, opponents marched on the central Zocalo square that houses the seat of government.

"Our democracy cannot be touched," read a banner unfurled on a stage where several opposition leaders delivered speeches.

Organizers of the protest accuse the government of using state resources to shift the vote in favor of 61-year-old Sheinbaum, who polls at about 64 percent of voter intention, and of seeking to rein in the powers of the electoral commission.

"The reforms sent by the president (to Congress) attack independent institutions... It is necessary to defend them," Jorge Reyes, an 18-year-old student, told AFP of a package of proposals that include a raise in pensions.

Lopez Obrador has slammed the call to protest as a "demonstration to defend corruption."

Sheinbaum, a scientist by training, is a staunch supporter and confidante of Lopez Obrador, a leftwing populist who enjoys an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is required by the constitution to leave office after a single six-year term.

She was a spokesperson for Lopez Obrador during his failed 2006 election bid, and served as Mexico City mayor from 2018 until earlier this year when she stepped down to run for president.

Sheinbaum will face Xochitl Galvez, an outspoken 60-year-old businesswoman and senator with Indigenous roots selected to represent an opposition coalition, the Broad Front for Mexico.

One of the two in all likelihood will become the first woman president of Mexico, a country with a long tradition of machismo.

Sheinbaum, the granddaughter of Bulgarian and Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, is known for her reserved, cautious style and has vowed to continue Lopez Obrador's policy agenda.

Like the incumbent president, she portrays herself as a defender of the poor, including Indigenous communities.

The entry of Galvez -- born to an Indigenous Otomi father and mixed-race mother -- has shaken up the presidential race.

Her first name means "flower" in the Nahuatl Indigenous language, and her background sets her apart from the traditional conservative opposition.

She wears Indigenous clothing, uses colloquial language peppered with swear words and is known for traveling around Mexico City by bicycle.

The opposition coalition is made up of the Institutional Revolutionary Party -- which ruled the country for more than 70 years until 2000 -- the conservative National Action Party and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution.

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