MEXICO CITY - Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has a razor-thin lead over his conservative rival in the final days of Mexico's tense election campaign, two closely-watched polls showed Friday.
The Reforma and El Universal newspapers both put Lopez Obrador ahead with 36 percent support and the conservative ruling party's candidate Felipe Calderon at 34 percent.
That marked a swing of 5 points in Lopez Obrador's favor since the last El Universal poll less than two weeks ago.
Most of a final batch of polls this week show Lopez Obrador slightly ahead but his lead is smaller than the margin of error and experts say the July 2 vote is wide open. No more polls can be released after Friday, under electoral law.
Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City, has promised to help millions of Mexicans rise out of poverty by ending two decades of free market reforms, boosting welfare programs and creating jobs with ambitious infrastructure projects.
With just over a week to go, Lopez Obrador is trying to seal victory by knocking down his rivals' allegations that he could wreck Mexico's economic stability and trample on investors and business leaders.
"We are not going to commit any abuses, we're not going to take away anyone's goods," said Lopez Obrador at a campaign rally Thursday.
Calderon, who had recently led the polls, has tried to portray Lopez Obrador as a danger to Mexico, cut from the same cloth as Venezuela's populist president, Hugo Chavez.
A 43-year-old former energy minister, Calderon is pledging to crack down on crime, create millions of jobs and continue the prudent fiscal policies of President Vicente Fox. He also insists he still leads Lopez Obrador.
Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party which ruled Mexico for seven decades before it was ousted in the 2000 presidential vote is in third place, although he has gained ground in June.
Most polls this week showed him with 25-30 percent support and his party has the most extensive party machine in villages and towns across the country.
With the race very tight, some investors fear Mexico could be thrown into a political crisis after July 2, especially if Lopez Obrador loses and challenges the results with street protests.
Experts say victory will go to whoever does the better job of getting his supporters out to vote on election day.
Calderon's advisors hope a strong performance by Mexico's soccer team at the World Cup in Germany could put him over the top by generating a strong "feel good factor" that typically helps ruling parties. Mexico plays the powerful Argentina team Saturday for a place in the quarter-finals.
The new Reforma poll of 2,100 people was carried out June 17-19 and had a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points. The El Universal poll was conducted June 16-19 with 2,000 eligible voters and had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Feeds