[JURIST] Prosecutors have finally charged Mexico City's popular mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [World Mayor profile] with abuse of authority, a move that could threaten Obrador's run for president. A week after President Vicente Fox [official site] considered – then reconsidered [JURIST report] a pardon, and two weeks after Lopez Obrador promised he would surrender to authorities [JURIST report] when he was stripped of public official immunity, prosecutors asked the court to order Lopez Obrador to appear before a judge, who will then decide whether to accept or dismiss the charges. Two legislators from Fox's National Action Party [Wikipedia entry] paid the bond, a move many suspect was made to prevent a surge of public sympathy for the mayor, who promised to fight charges from his cell. Lopez Obrador claims the charges are a fabrication to keep him from the presidential race and called the payment of his bail an act of "cowardice" perpetrated by "swindlers". AP has more.