In Mexico, December 1, 2012, will be remembered as the day that an imposition was legitimized. Enrique Peña Nieto — his name is often abbreviated in Mexico as “EPN” — took the reins of power in the context of deep indignation and amidst heavy state crackdown against crowds of protesters. A number of actions were…
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The Republic of Mexico’s national anthem begins with the words, “Mexicans, at the cry of war.” But last week Mexicans were instead crying out once more for peace. On September 21, in front of the U.S. embassy in Mexico City, the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) closed its “Ten Days for Peace…
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Shame, indignation and helplessness are the three words that have been heard most from the mouths of many Mexicans over the last few days. They see the elections that occurred on July 1 as dirty, corrupt, fraudulent, unfair and entirely undemocratic. For many international elections observers as well, these elections were some of the most…
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Mexico’s ongoing Yo Soy 132 movement continues to show a capacity for creativity and joy while opening new spaces for political participation. A case in point: On June 19, Yo Soy 132 organized a debate among the Mexican presidential candidates, this time with the movement’s own media, rules and questions. Three of the four candidates took…
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On June 10, at 11:30 in the morning, Mexico City’s Zócalo Plaza began to fill with people wearing creative outfits and carrying posters and signs. Yo Soy 132 academics, Yo Soy 132 artists, the “free journalists 132” and everyday citizens — retirees, children, mothers and entire families — arrived from every corner of the huge…
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Nearly two weeks have passed since the first massive Yo Soy 132, or I am 132, protest in Mexico on May 23. On that date, thousands of Mexican university students, academics, youth, as well as some who were not-so-youthful, began to mobilize for the democratization of Mexico’s media and against the role that the media…
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In Mexico City’s daily life — in the shops, taxicabs, cafes and lines waiting for the bus — one could hear conversations between people of all ages saying that Enrique Peña Nieto would, without a doubt, win the presidential elections. “Either something huge will happen,” a taxi driver told me, “or he will win.” And…
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