Photo Essay: National March Against the Imposition of Nieto as President in Mexico

Tens of thousands marched throughout major Mexican cities on July 21 to decry the outcome of the July 1 presidential elections, which gave Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto the win. The call to march came out of last weekend’s National Convention Against the Imposition. Spearheaded by the unions and the YoSoy132 student movement, the march was a rejection of what many call as an “imposition” of Nieto’s presidential win through voter buying and electoral fraud conducted by his once-ruling party the PRI.

Tens of thousands marched throughout major Mexican cities on July 21 to decry the outcome of the July 1 presidential elections, which gave Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto the win.

The call to march came out of last weekend’s National Convention Against the Imposition, held in San Salvador Atenco, where representatives of more than 300 organizations agreed upon a national plan of action to halt Nieto from assuming the presidency on December 1.

Spearheaded by the YoSoy132 student movement, union members of the Mexican Electricians Union (SME in it’s Spanish initials), and National Committee of Education Workers (CNTE), the march was a rejection of what many call as an “imposition” of Nieto’s presidential win through voter buying and electoral fraud conducted by his once-ruling party the PRI.

Demonstrators also called upon a greater democratization of the mainstream media, which has been accused of giving special and prioritized coverage of Nieto and the PRI during the campaigning leading up to the elections.

 

The march in Mexico City began at Los Pinos, the residency of the Mexican President and moved toward the city’s main avenue Paseo de Reforma to eventually finish at the Zocalo, the city’s main square. The crowd was a mix of students, teachers, farmers, workers, the elderly and the very young.

“Is the army the private guard of corrupt politicians?”

“If you elect a criminal, you will have crime”

Many accuse the television giant, Televisa of giving favorable and biased coverage to the PRI and Nieto during the campaign. “Teidiotiza” is a rhyming pun on the station’s name, meaning “Televisa makes you stupid.”

The YoSoy132 (I am 132) Student Movement spawned out of an initial protest of students who wanted to highlight Nieto’s controversial past. In 2006 Nieto, the then-governor of the State of Mexico, called in police to violently break up a protest in the community of San Salvador Atenco, which left two protestors dead, and many reports of human rights abuses committed by the authorities.

A woman wears signs reading: “The PRI had their Opportunity to change, and we believed them, but they themselves PULLED THE TRIGGER!! – Luis Donaldo Colosio (1950-1994) Assassinated with cowardice by the PRIists themselves for looking for a true change for Mexico”and “Televisa: Lie Factory”

The YoSoy132 (I am 132) Student Movement is calling for a greater democratization of the media and for the development of alternatives to the monopoly of major television giants such as Televisa and Azteca.

“He is NOT MY president.”

“I am 1968, I am 1971, I am 132, I am a survivor of 20_ _” Dates that refer to student massacres committed by PRI backed paramilitary groups.

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