Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday (15) in the streets of Mexico City to protest the violence and security policies of the government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The demonstration was called on social media by representatives of Generation Z (under 28 years of age).
Many of those attending the march, which covered important streets in the center of the capital, wore hats similar to those worn by Carlos Manzo, the mayor of the city of Uruapan in the state of Michoacán (west), who was killed on November 1 and who gained fame by chasing criminals in person, on patrol and even from a helicopter.
On Friday, Manzo’s widow and current Uruapan mayor, Grecia Quiroz, dissociated herself from the “Hat Movement,” founded by the slain mayor, from Saturday’s march.
On Thursday, Sheinbaum questioned the calls for this mobilization, and said in his morning press conference that the call was “inorganic and paid.”
“It is a motive that is being promoted even from abroad against the government,” the president added.
Posters bearing messages such as “We are all Carlos Manzo” were displayed next to the pirate flag symbolic of the Japanese manga “One Piece”, which has become a symbol of youth protests around the world.
Protesters headed to the front of Mexico’s National Palace, where Sheinbaum lives and works, and tore down some of the metal fences that protected the building on the Zocalo, the country’s most important public square.
Police officers guarding the place used fire extinguishers to contain the demonstrators who were attacking the bars. They also fired tear gas canisters.
Some demonstrators shouted at the security forces: “This is how you should have protected Carlos Manzo.”
Hundreds of young people threw projectiles at the police, who responded by using their shields and throwing objects at the demonstrators.
“This is the first march I have participated in where civilians support violence,” Raul Cortes, a 52-year-old government employee, told AFP.
Sheinbaum, who has been in power since October 1, 2024, has an approval rating of more than 70% in the first year of his administration, but faces criticism for his security policy, due to high-profile murders that occurred mainly in the state of Michoacán.
Manzo’s killing joins that of Bernardo Bravo, the leader of lemon producers in the same agricultural area, who was shot dead at the end of October.
Bravo had stated that he was the victim of extortion, a crime that Sheinbaum admitted he was unable to contain.
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