Thread: Ugly words, peaceful protest at Mexico City rally

http://www.mysanantonio.com

Ugly words, peaceful protest at Mexico City rally

Web Posted: 05/02/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Dane Schiller
Express-News Mexico Bureau Chief

MEXICO CITY — Hoisting banners, flags and machetes and rallied by the masked rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, thousands marched on the U.S. Embassy on Monday, partly to support pro-immigration protests in U.S. cities.

Marcos called on the U.S. government to grant labor rights to those working illegally — and on the Mexican government to build an economy that would not force people to go abroad to feed their families.

There were no reports of violence at the embassy other than the burning of an effigy of Mexican President Vicente Fox being defecated on by a red, white and blue pig representing the United States.

But some of the chanting got ugly.

"Death to Fox; death to Bush," shouted the crowd. "Gringos out of Mexico."

Still, the call for a "Day Without Gringos," a boycott of anything made in the United States, didn't seem to have much effect.

Some businesses, especially those in the path of the marchers, closed for the day — and a 7-Eleven had its windows boarded. Many others, including McDonald's and Wal-Marts, were open and business was about normal.

A rally of 5,000 people in front of the embassy, in a city that is believed to have at least 10 million residents, would seem a drop in the bucket rather than a show of national outrage.

Mexico's Labor Day always sees multiple marches, but the cause of undocumented immigrants gave this year's demonstrations strong anti-American elements.

Marcos, with his trademark ski mask and pipe, sounded like both a classic Latin American leftist and a mainstream political leader.

He referred to the Americans as "Yankees," labeled the United States racist and voiced support for the "heroic country of Cuba," but also spoke of Mexico's need to build a sustainable economy.

"The fight of undocumented workers in the United States, in particular those of Mexican origin, is completely just," said Marcos, who invoked civil-rights leaders Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was lost on no one that Mexico is in the throes of a presidential race, and Marcos told the crowd change is also needed at home.

"We are fighting for another Mexico, one that does not obligate its workers to leave all behind and go abroad in search of a life that is now impossible here — a free, just and democratic Mexico," he said.

As hundreds of police in full riot gear surrounded the embassy, marchers stared them down or took their photos.

One man, wearing a blue blazer and khaki slacks, clutched a Mexican flag and gazed directly and silently into the faces of police for more than an hour.

At one point, marchers passing the embassy observed a minute of silence for would-be immigrants who have died trying to enter the United States.

"We cross the border because of a lack of work, not for fun," said Martina Cardenas of the group Sin Fronteras, which promotes allowing Mexican immigrants to work in the United States. "Why would we cross the desert and face racist bullets?"

Marta Sanchez, 65, who sat on a curb and clutched a sign that read, "Don't Buy Gringo Products," said she had no problem with Americans.

"We do not trust the American government, especially Bush; that is different from not trusting the American people," she said. "They treat immigrants like criminals, but they are workers. They don't have permission to be in the United States, but they are working."

As the marchers moved on, a crew of a dozen city employees swept up, a reminder that Mexico needs to check its own labor laws.

"We are here 'voluntarily' — we were forced to volunteer," said a man leading the crew, who would not give his name out of fear of retribution.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dschiller@express-news.net

5,000 march in Mexico City but mILLIONS march here in America? THAT is an interesting situation isn't it? Though I DO agree with one thing the marchers were saying in Mexico City --- Mexico DOES need to improve its economy and way of doing things so their people do not come here ( illegally ) to find jobs.