Thousands of mainly younger Mexicans demonstrated in dozens of cities in Mexico last weekend against the security situation in the country. Corruption at all levels of politics, extortion in almost all economic sectors, violence against activists, journalists and social leaders and a government that has not yet found a solid answer to all these national problems: young people in the country in particular seem to have had enough of it.
In the center of Mexico City, where the National Palace is located, demonstrators clashed with the massive riot police. At least 120 officers were injured, according to the Mexican capital’s police chief. Since Claudia Sheinbaum took office as president of Mexico in October of last year, dissatisfaction against her government’s policies has not been expressed in so many different cities in the country.
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Although Sheinbaum herself remains popular, Mexicans say in national polls that they believe the country has become less safe during her term. While safety is currently the most important issue for many Mexicans.
Gen Z
The big driving force behind last weekend’s protests were Mexican Gen Z youth, born after 2000. Young people who grew up in a country where criminal organizations have more power than the authorities in many regions. Comparable to the protest movements of peers in Peru, Nepal and several African countries, it is about a generation that wants to grow up in a country that offers them opportunities.
That protest movement has received additional impetus with the murder of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of the town of Uruapán in the violence-torn state of Michaocán. Manzo was a striking appearance, with a white cowboy hat, bulletproof vest and at least fifteen heavily armed officers who accompanied him everywhere.
Much needed security, because Manzo was outspoken about the impact of organized crime in his municipality. Farmers and entrepreneurs in Uruapán and surrounding areas invariably fall victim to extortion by criminal gangs, residents of rural areas in particular flee the territorial violence between these gangs and those who speak out against the violence become victims of threats or murder.
Mural of murdered Carlos Manzo in Mexico City.
Photo Ivan Villanueva / EPA
Manzo repeatedly asked the federal government for military support to tackle crime in Uruapán. In his own words, he was rejected time and time again. On Saturday, November 1, during the celebration of the national holiday Dia de los Muertos, Manzo was shot at in the central square of Uruapán, in front of his son, wife and hundreds of others present. He died on the spot. His wife has taken his place as mayor and promises to continue his fight against crime. In the rest of Mexico, Manzo’s distinctive hat has become the symbol of a protest movement against violence.
After Manzo’s murder, Sheinbaum vowed to do more to improve the security situation in Michoacán. She promised to send 12,000 soldiers to the state, but at the same time refuses to openly declare war on the cartels in Mexico. The Mexican president swears by a strategy that focuses mainly on arresting ringleaders and using intelligence to dismantle criminal organizations. A new law was recently passed to better address financial flows from these organizations.
Tougher approach
A militarized strategy, as implemented during the government of Felipe Calderón in 2007 and continued during the term of his successor Enrique Peña Nieto, is not negotiable for the current Mexican government. Yet a tougher approach is being demanded by the Mexican opposition and among the population. According to many security experts, arresting leaders has the opposite effect: it causes more violence at the local level, because groups without leadership splinter and fight each other for territory.
In addition, many Mexicans, including demonstrators in cities outside Michoacán, say the focus should be on many more states. While, in addition to Michoacán, the state of Sinaloa, with the internal cartel war of the Sinaloa Cartel, receives a lot of attention from the federal government, the security situation in other states is downright deplorable.
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In the southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco, where thousands of migrants are still stranded and at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. In the states of Guerrero and Jalisco on the Pacific Ocean, where the majority of cocaine destined for the American market arrives.
In central states such as Guanajuato and Hidalgo, where fuel theft and smuggling has become one of the cartels’ main sources of income. And in border states such as Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, where organizations fight each other for control of smuggling routes to the US.
Legacy of AMLO
Sheinbaum inherited from her predecessor, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, a political project that paid little attention to the fight against criminal organizations. AMLO, as the former president is known, vowed to implement an approach aimed at improving the conditions in which Mexican young people grow up, so that they are not tempted to join gangs. But by avoiding direct confrontation with such gangs, they were able to grow further under his term.
Sheinbaum has opted for a tougher approach, led by her confidant Omar Harfuch, who is currently Minister of Security. Harfuch was police chief of Mexico City when Sheinbaum was mayor and during that period survived a brutal assassination attempt in one of the capital’s most expensive neighborhoods when he came under fire by dozens of Jalisco Cartel gunmen.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Photo Isaac Esquivel/EPA
Yet Sheinbaum refuses a fully militarized strategy, where more Mexicans demand a tougher approach. The Mexican president is currently facing the biggest challenge of her presidency: many Mexicans are demanding more results in tackling criminal organizations, where influential members of her political party continue to believe in the “hugs, not bullets” strategy of her predecessor AMLO.
With the US in the background, which is also demanding that Mexico do more to tackle the cartels, Sheinbaum will sooner or later have to choose. A choice that could be decisive for the rest of her term.
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