Generation Z protests are gaining momentum. Thousands demonstrate against crime and corruption in Mexico City
Several thousand people protested in Ciudad de México on Saturday against crime, corruption and impunity, in a demonstration initiated by young Gen Zers but also drawing significant support from older opposition supporters.
Protests in Mexico/PHOTO:X
The protest was largely peaceful, but ended in isolated incidents between a group of youths and law enforcement. Demonstrators threw stones, fireworks and blunt objects at the police and tried to take their shields and equipment.
Pablo Vázquez, the capital's security secretary, said 120 people were injured, including 100 policemen. Twenty protesters were arrested.
A global wave of Gen Z protests
Protests organized by those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s have increased in several countries this year, with inequality, democratic regression and corruption as central themes. The largest mobilization of this type took place in Nepal in September, after the banning of some social media platforms, an event that culminated in the resignation of the prime minister.
In Mexico, many young people say they are frustrated by persistent structural problems such as corruption and a lack of accountability for violent crime. “We need more security,” said Andrés Massa, a 29-year-old business consultant who carried the flag with the pirate symbol – which has become an international emblem of Gen Z protests.
But the protest also attracted older participants. Arizbeth García, a 43-year-old doctor, said she took to the streets to support the funding of the public health system and for better protection of medical personnel, “exposed to the same insecurity that affects the whole country.”
President Seinbaum's reaction
Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, continues to enjoy high approval ratings despite a recent spate of high-profile murders, including the assassination of a popular mayor in the state of Michoacán.
In the days leading up to the protest, Sheinbaum accused right-wing parties of trying to infiltrate the Gen Z movement and using automated social media accounts to boost participation.
Meanwhile, several Gen Z influencers have announced they are distancing themselves from the protest, while older figures such as former president Vicente Fox and billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego have voiced their support.
Intergenerational participation
The demonstration was attended by people of all ages, including supporters of Carlos Manzo, the recently murdered mayor of Michoacán, who wore straw hats – a symbol of his political movement.
“The state is in decline,” said Rosa María Ávila, a 65-year-old real estate agent from the city of Pátzcuaro. She said Manzo was killed because he “sent forces into the highlands to fight criminal gangs” and because he “had the courage to stand up to them”.
