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| Demonstrators march in protest of arrests of youth on June 10 in Mexico City Photo: Carlos Ramos Mamahua |
La Jornada: Julio Hernández López
Translated by Noah Burton
The government in the capital seems to have decided to rely on the same unfortunate model of police practices it has used in the past against the same violent infiltrators of the protest movement. On the first of December of last year, the PRI’s return to national power brought with it in the capital the return of confused episodes which, when provocation mixed with legitimate political protest, gave the green light to those who wished to use scare tactics and confusion in [Mexico City,] the seat of the greatest social and electoral opposition to the return of that tri-colored dinosaur [the PRI].
Despite overwhelming media coverage of the government changeover, the existence of a costly system of security cameras, and the “intelligence” networks of the government of the capital, those truly responsible for levels of vandalism never before seen in such a central location were able to escape and have yet to be identified and arrested for their actions. On the other hand, seemingly as compensation, dozens of people with no connection to that day’s violence have been detained, beaten, and held by authorities, although the vast majority has now been released.
The events of the so-called 1DMX [1 December Mexico], under the command of the man who at that time was head of government in the capital, Marcelo Ebrard, don’t seem to have taught his successor Miguel Ángel Mancera many lessons, as he has maintained the lack of transparency with respect to what happened that day and the lack of consequences for those who violated the constitutional guarantees and human rights of their fellow citizens. Despite the fact that within days of 1DMX the identities of the majority of those responsible were known, the political decision was to not act, so as not to heat up the political environment, knowing full well that those groups and those acts of violence would show up again.
In this year’s commemoration of the 10th of June [Halconazo of 1971], the battle lines were drawn as expected: groups of young people, many of them wearing masks or covering their faces with handkerchiefs, prepared to confront police who had received orders to resist violent attacks. The police began to make arrests, which, in many cases, did not target violent protesters but rather peaceful participants in the political protest and commemoration of what happened at San Cosme in 1971.
The repetition of these ineffective police practices makes one think that the provocation and the violent infiltrators of the protest movement are part of a project of political destabilization in the Federal District that is permitted or tolerated by authorities whose ideological consistency is so squishy that they are creating the conditions for the left to lose positions of power. Spanish Original
The government in the capital seems to have decided to rely on the same unfortunate model of police practices it has used in the past against the same violent infiltrators of the protest movement. On the first of December of last year, the PRI’s return to national power brought with it in the capital the return of confused episodes which, when provocation mixed with legitimate political protest, gave the green light to those who wished to use scare tactics and confusion in [Mexico City,] the seat of the greatest social and electoral opposition to the return of that tri-colored dinosaur [the PRI].
Despite overwhelming media coverage of the government changeover, the existence of a costly system of security cameras, and the “intelligence” networks of the government of the capital, those truly responsible for levels of vandalism never before seen in such a central location were able to escape and have yet to be identified and arrested for their actions. On the other hand, seemingly as compensation, dozens of people with no connection to that day’s violence have been detained, beaten, and held by authorities, although the vast majority has now been released.
The events of the so-called 1DMX [1 December Mexico], under the command of the man who at that time was head of government in the capital, Marcelo Ebrard, don’t seem to have taught his successor Miguel Ángel Mancera many lessons, as he has maintained the lack of transparency with respect to what happened that day and the lack of consequences for those who violated the constitutional guarantees and human rights of their fellow citizens. Despite the fact that within days of 1DMX the identities of the majority of those responsible were known, the political decision was to not act, so as not to heat up the political environment, knowing full well that those groups and those acts of violence would show up again.
In this year’s commemoration of the 10th of June [Halconazo of 1971], the battle lines were drawn as expected: groups of young people, many of them wearing masks or covering their faces with handkerchiefs, prepared to confront police who had received orders to resist violent attacks. The police began to make arrests, which, in many cases, did not target violent protesters but rather peaceful participants in the political protest and commemoration of what happened at San Cosme in 1971.
The repetition of these ineffective police practices makes one think that the provocation and the violent infiltrators of the protest movement are part of a project of political destabilization in the Federal District that is permitted or tolerated by authorities whose ideological consistency is so squishy that they are creating the conditions for the left to lose positions of power. Spanish Original