MEXICO CITY, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's supporters seized highway booths and blockaded the entrances to federal government offices on Tuesday, demanding a total vote recount of Mexico's July 2 presidential election.

    Lopez Obrador's supporters abandoned the booths after the end of the morning rush hour after they were threatened with the use of force by the government, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.

    In Mexico City, hundreds of Lopez Obrador's supporters blockaded the entrance to offices of the Federal Agriculture Department for more than six hours on Tuesday.

    Protestors gathering in front of the office of the Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF), which has the final power to decide the presidency, said on Monday night that they would not give up until they were given a ballot-by-ballot review.

    As a candidate from the Revolutionary Democratic Party, Lopez Obrador has been calling for a vote-by-vote recount since a count by the official Federal Electoral Agency handed victory to pro-business candidate Felipe Calderon, of the ruling National Action Party, by only 0.58 of a percentage point.

    Mexican President Vicente Fox criticized the protests later on Tuesday, saying, "Democracy cannot advance without respect for others and above all without respect for institutions."

    But Lopez Obrador declared in Mexico City's central plaza on Tuesday night: "We are going to carry on our struggle. We are sure we will triumph."

    "Until now we have concentrated an important part of our protests in the capital, but in this new stage we are going to carry out actions all over the country," secretary-general of Democratic Revolution Party Guadalupe Acosta said. "They will be coordinated, national actions with the same objective: that they open the boxes and count the votes."

    Lopez Obrador has urged his followers to remain peaceful, but some fear that the demonstrations may not always remain under control.

    TEPJF ordered a 9 percent recount of the country's more than 130,000 ballot boxes on Saturday. The recount, to begin on Wednesday, has to be completed in less than five days.

    But on Sunday, Lopez Obrador refused to "accept a partial recount" but called for "recounts at all the voting stations."

    TEPJF should declare a president-elect or annul the election before Sept. 6. Enditem