Thousands of Mexicans protested against President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government in Mexico City on Saturday. Initially called for by Generation Z, the demonstrations were encouraged by opposition parties and ended up attracting more government critics than young people.
Shouts of “Fora Morena” (Ruling Party), “Corrupt State, I mourn for your cause” and “Drug President” were heard among protesters of different origins and social classes. Although they did not carry party symbols, they were united by their dissatisfaction with the Sheinbaum administration, which had been in power for just over a year.
Claudia Cruz, a 30-year-old lawyer, said she was marching for a better country. Fidel Sandoval, a 78-year-old retired teacher, said he was protesting the lack of justice. Arizbeth Garcia, a 43-year-old internist, wore a white coat to protest against the failings of the public health system, “because we are also exposed to the fear that exists in this country where someone can kill and nothing will happen.”
Some young people were reluctant to speak to the press and were unable to explain the reasons for their protests.
The march was mostly peaceful, but it ended with several young people with their faces covered breaking down barricades set up by authorities to protect parts of the country’s main square, the Zócalo, and clashes with police, including fireworks, stone-throwing and tear gas.
The protests, which were repeated on a smaller scale in other cities across the country, carried white flags as well as Mexican flags to demand justice for Carlos Manzo, the popular mayor of Michoacán who was killed this month and whose crime remains unsolved. Many people wore straw hats, a symbol of the opposition political movement, and some demonstrators rode horses.
Although some accounts belonging to Gen Z activists ended up distancing themselves from the event, opposition figures such as former Mexican President Vicente Fox and billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas Priego, 70, of the conservative National Action Party, supported them.
The Sheinbaum government accused the demonstrations of being manipulated and organized by the international right using bots.
Along the march, black flags depicting the skull and crossbones from the Japanese manga One Piece, a symbol of Generation Z, and a smiling skull wearing a straw hat were also hoisted. But these 20-somethings were not the majority, digital natives leading a global wave of intergenerational discontent, united by fatigue with the political class and inequality.
The Gen Z protests led to the resignation of the Nepali government and were replicated in Asian and African countries with different motives. In Latin America, the same symbol was used during an October demonstration in Peru demanding the resignation of interim president José Geri, although subsequent marches, such as this Friday’s, had different organizers.
Mexico’s president, who took office on October 1, 2014, enjoys high approval ratings and is a staunch defender of the legacy of his predecessor, Andres Manuel López Obrador, but under pressure from the United States, he has changed his much-criticized security strategy to better fight organized crime.
However, the country’s structural problems, including insecurity, corruption and impunity, persist, and recent acts of violence, such as in Michoacán, have fueled discontent.
Recent, well-attended protests include those last year that sought to block judicial reforms for fear of politicizing the administration of justice, as well as protests by feminist groups and human rights movements demanding justice for the more than 130,000 people who have disappeared in the country.
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