Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2006 > November
November 2006
Protest City
Think there are a lot of marches at the Texas Capitol? Austin’s got nothing on Mexico City, where officials say that during the past six years there were 2,229 protest marches, more than one per day. The study coincides with the presidential term of Vicente Fox, which officially ends Thursday night.
When he was elected, Fox seemingly had an answer for every woe facing Mexico. But judging by the number of protests, which were aimed at everything from substandard housing and electoral fraud to subsidies for dairy farmers and the demands of striking teachers, Fox didn’t solve many.
A whopping 11.5 million people participated in Mexico City protests, rallies, marches and caravans, not a bad percentage for a country of 107 million. In addition to the marches, there were almost 1,500 street closures due to protesters. The blockades have become such a part of daily life here that they are regularly included in the afternoon traffic reports.
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What’s in a zocalo?
Here’s a question for frequent visitors to Mexico: What’s your favorite zocalo?
Most people know of the massive, cement plaza in downtown Mexico City (the most used, but probably least attractive of Mexico’s zocalos, or central plazas), but the country is filled with some real gems. Oaxaca’s café-lined zocalo was widely considered the nicest before six months of rebellion turned it into an armed encampment.
Among my votes: the town of Patzcuaro in Michoacan, with its lazy trees and great restaurants and shops; the Yucatecan city of Merida, bustling with dance and music; the colonial city of Morelia with its ornate and stately buildings; the small town of Villa Juarez in San Luis Potosi, where migrants have sent back money to pay for one of the most immaculate central plazas I’ve seen.
What zocalos have caught your eye? I’d especially like to hear about any plazas off the beaten path. And check out a cool zocalo survey at the planeta.com travel Web site run by an Austin ex-pat in Oaxaca.
Dog Day Morning
I’ve heard of press conferences cancelled because of weather or late plane flights, but this morning the United Nations office in Mexico City had to suspend a press conference on immigration because of a car-bomb threat.
And that wasn’t even the craziest thing to happen on the street. A few blocks down and about a half hour earlier, gunmen shot and killed two police guarding an armored car making a delivery to a bank. Dressed as telephone workers, the robbers made off with $15,000 in cash and sped off in a Telefonos de Mexico truck.
Just another day on Mexico City’s fanciest street — Presidente Masaryk. It’s home to Hugo Boss, Armani and lots of other places where you can spend $500 for a pair of jeans.
But with extreme wealth comes extreme security. I was on the street last week to interview the manager of a store that sells bulletproof clothing. With last week’s bombings in Mexico City, which were claimed by previously dormant guerrilla groups, the manager said anti-explosive gear is flying off the shelves.
Back at the United Nations, police were checking a minivan with Texas plates. No word yet on if they found anything.
Fox looks to Perry for interview tips
It was his Rick Perry moment. President Vicente Fox avoided pseudo-curse words, but he still managed to stick his foot in his mouth moments before a television interview last week.
In a situation reminiscent of Perry’s “Adios, mofo” comment to a TV reporter, Fox didn’t realize the microphones were on in an interview with a Spanish television crew. Settling into his chair, Fox, whose six-year term ends next month, said: “Now I’m free and I can say any ridiculous thing.” The phrase is funnier in Spanish: “Ya ando libre, ya digo cualquier tonteria.”
The clip caused quite a bit of snickering when it was released Wednesday, but no word yet on when the bumper stickers and T-shirts are coming out.
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Anger over border fence means support for Dems
Many Mexicans are rooting for the Democrats in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, but judging by the tone of news stories and editorials here, most aren’t holding their breath that the Dems can achieve a far-reaching immigration accord.
Mexicans enthusiastically reject the recently approved border fence and many blame the Republican majority for the bill’s passage. The Mexican press largely has presented the fence as a cynical political ploy by the Republicans to win votes on Tuesday.
Immigration reform is considered more likely under the Democrats, and a headline in Reforma, a leading Mexico City daily, declared “A balanced (Congress) benefits Mexico.?
But Mexico’s other leading paper, El Universal, cautions its readers today that “A Democratic triumph doesn’t guarantee a new deal for Mexico.? The paper goes on to note that the many Democrats also voted for the border fence.
Altars and local angles in Oaxaca
Last night, a couple of other journalists and I visited the spot where New York City-based Indymedia reporter Brad Will, 36, was shot and killed on the outskirts of Oaxaca City on Friday. Day of the Dead begins today, and protesters, many of whom say they knew Will well, built one of the most beautiful altars in this city full of altars.
“Brad, I’m sure you are an angel,? a message reads. Talking with some of the residents who helped build the altar, it seems that even though the crisis in Oaxaca has become an international issue, Will was caught up in some very local politics.
Will was killed in the middle of a shootout between protesters and what some suspect were militants of the PRI, the party that had ruled Mexico for 71 years before the 2000 election. Local PRI officials were identified in video of the shootout, according to Mexican media.
The neighborhood where Will was killed is next to a heavily PRI enclave, an area where most residents belong to the party and in some way derive their living from it. The altar-makers say the local PRI-istas are scared to death that the protests will bring an end to their long-held privileges, which they claim include not paying local taxes.
The movement in Oaxaca is aimed at ousting PRI Gov. Ulises Ruiz, but such a move could have ripple effects.
In many ways, local PRI militants are fighting to maintain their way of life, which may help explain the extreme violence in some of the hardscrabble neighborhoods outside of downtown Oaxaca.