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Mexicans march in solidarity with US protesters
Reuters
MEXICO CITY - Thousands of Mexicans marched through the capital and boycotted U.S. stores on Monday to support illegal immigrants demonstrating for more rights in the United States.

Protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy and demanded more rights for millions of Mexican migrants who have staged marches in Americans cities and towns in recent weeks and were holding a one-day strike and business boycott on Monday.

"We remind the gringos that they are a country of immigrants. The work that gringos don't like to do is being done by Mexicans," said Felipe Gomez, a 50-year-old man who joined the protest march.

Many Mexicans showed their support of their U.S.-based compatriots by refusing to shop for the day at chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.

Subcomandante Marcos, the pipe-smoking masked leader of Zapatista rebels who took up arms for Indian rights in the southern state of Chiapas 12 years ago and rarely emerges from his jungle hideout, joined a march through Mexico City.

More than half the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States are originally from Mexico.

Many work in low-paid jobs in restaurants, hotels, offices and construction sites and they send more than $20 billion home to their families every year. The cash transfers are Mexico's second largest source of foreign currency after oil exports.

COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS

For years, Latin American immigrants in the United States lived in the shadows, too scared of being arrested and deported to join protests.

But that has changed in recent weeks as hundreds of thousands poured onto the streets to pressure the U.S. Congress into passing immigration reforms and dropping proposals that would effectively make them criminals.

"They live on the defensive, hiding so they are not returned home. They are there just trying to survive and help the people they left behind," said Carla Sanchez, a 22-year-old secretary at the Mexico City march.

The sight of migrants workers standing tall has helped boost national pride in a country that is still sensitive to any hint of U.S. arrogance in its dealings with Mexico.

"The migrants are very hard working and they are good hearted people. We are here because we do not think they should be treated like criminals or animals," said Carmen Rivera, a nun who joined a rally in Reynosa on the U.S. border.

Protesters there briefly shut down the border bridge that links it to McAllen, Texas.

Some bore wooden crosses on their backs to commemorate the hundreds of people who die every year crossing hazardous territory to reach the United States.

"We are supporting the boycott in the name of all the migrants who have perished here in the Rio Grande," said Enrique Games, a retiree who joined a march organized by a local Catholic church, as he looked out over the river's olive green waters. "It is an important gesture."

Mexican President Vicente Fox, an ally of Washington, has pushed hard for U.S. immigration reforms but his government is worried the boycott could alienate Americans and do more harm than good.

He urged protesters to be "prudent" and said they should try to help win reforms rather than be "an element of provocation, or of promoting xenophobia or opposition."