Mexican challenger whips up support

Opposition leader Fox (left) wants a clean break with Mexico's past

By Peter Greste in Mexico City

Mexico's leading opposition challenger for the presidency, Vicente Fox, has closed his election campaign with a mass rally in the heart of the capital, Mexico City.

According to opinion polls, Mr Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) is in a statistical dead heat with his ruling party rival, Francisco Labastida.

Now it's our turn to tear down the wall of authoritarianism and poverty

Vicente Fox

He called on the country to tear down its own Berlin Wall - a reference to Mr Labastida's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has ruled the country non-stop for the past 71 years.

There is only one issue in this campaign for Mexico's presidency - change.

Mr Labastida insists it is possible to change direction without changing horses.

Breaking PRI's grip

Vicente Fox on Saturday told more than 150,000 cheering supporters that the country had to break more than seven decades of rule by the one party.

Vicente Fox: PRI rule has "impoverished millions of Mexicans"

"Now it's our turn to tear down the wall of authoritarianism and poverty," he told the sea of people who filled the massive Zocalo Square in the old part of Mexico City.

With fireworks thumping and crackling overhead, Mr Fox closed his marathon campaign which began last year.

His supporters have reason to be happy: the latest opinion polls put the two leaders in a statistical dead heat for the 2 July presidential election.

Close race

That makes it the most closely fought race in Mexico this century, and arguably the most important election in its modern history.

But it may not be enough to overcome the decades of habit, combined with a PRI party organisation sometimes described as the world's most efficient election-winning machine.

Francisco Labastida: Career politician

Analysts say that in the past, the PRI has done whatever it needed to win the elections, both legal and illegal, and this year seems to be no different.

There are persistent reports of voter coercion and attempts at vote-buying, particularly among poorly educated and vulnerable rural communities.

The PRI denies doing anything illegal, but Mr Fox still attacked the ruling party, telling his crowd that neither the lies, defamations nor the whole apparatus of state could stop them.

He clearly believes he can win, though with opinion polls showing a massive 20% of the population still undecided, anything is possible.