Thousands of demonstrators marched through Mexico City on Saturday to protest against violence in the country and the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum. The rally was organized by young people from Generation Z, also known as Gen Z, and was supported by citizens protesting high-profile killings, including the recent killing of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo Rodríguez. Manzo called for tough action against drug cartels.
Towards the end of the demonstration, a number of masked demonstrators clashed with police. Protesters tore down parts of a barrier in front of the National Palace, where Sheinbaum lives. Police guarding the building fired tear gas against the crowd.
The capital’s public security secretary, Pablo Vázquez, told a news conference that about a hundred police officers were injured. Forty of them had to be treated in hospital. Twenty civilians were also injured in the incident, Vázquez later told the local news station Milenio. Twenty people were arrested.
Carlos Manzo Rodriguez
Protests took place not only in Mexico City. Protests took place in the western state of Michoacán, where Uruapan is located. Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, was shot dead on November 1 while attending a Día de los Muertos party. He was known for his open statements about the drug trade in his city and the violence of cartels.
He broke with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, in 2024 and became a fierce critic of the party and the president. Sheinbaum takes action against cartels, but resists calls to launch another all-out war on drug cartels. Previous attempts by her predecessors led to many deaths.
Protesters waved banners reading “We are all Carlos Manzo,” while others wore cowboy hats in honor of the slain mayor.
Sheinbaum
President Sheinbaum said days before the marches took place that they had been financed by right-wing politicians who opposed her government. The protests are also said to be promoted online by bots.
“We agree with freedom of expression and demonstration when there are young people with demands, but the issue here is who promotes the demonstration,” she said at a press conference. “People need to know how this demonstration is organized so that no one is abused.”
During her first year in office, Sheinbaum had a so-called approval rate of seventy percent. But she has been criticized for failing to reduce the violence plaguing the country.
Photo Francisco Guasco / EPA
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