ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Mexicans poured into the streets this weekend to protest Trump, but he's not the only one they're mad at

"I back Peña because of the wall," Mexico City resident Ismael Apátiga, said prior to the march. "But I won’t back him on anything else."

Demonstrators hold placards that collectively read No wall during a march to protest against US President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, in Mexico City, February 12, 2017.

Mexicans poured into the streets on Sunday to protest US President Donald Trump, after months of verbal taunts and, in recent weeks, openly hostile policies.

About 20,000 people marched in Mexico City, and thousands turned out in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Morelia.

The day of marches, held under the name "Vibra Mexico," was organized by 70 civic groups, universities, and nongovernmental organizations, who framed the march as nonpartisan.

While many protesters came out to protest Trump, some directed their ire at both Trump and the failings of the Mexican government.

ADVERTISEMENT

Others on the streets on Sunday were rallying in support of their own president, Enrique Peña Nieto, in the face of Trump's broadsides.

Below, you can see some photos of the protesters who poured into Mexico's streets.

Televisa, Mexico's main broadcaster, launched a pro-march ad campaign, but many Mexicans needed little prompting. Trump's promises of tough trade and immigration policies have many worried about Latin America's second-largest economy.

Source:

Marchers were seen with signs and piñatas comparing Trump to Hitler, with some shouting "No wall!" Others shouted "Peña out!" The Mexican president has seen his approval ratings drop below 20% in recent weeks.

ADVERTISEMENT

Source: ,

Trump's "discriminatory and protectionist actions against Mexico will seriously affect our economy and threaten the rights and security of Mexicans here and there," Vibra Mexico organizers said, referring to Trump's plans to crack down on immigration, renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal, and construct a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Source:

At 2 p.m., after reaching the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, the marchers began to sing the Mexican national anthem.

Source:

ADVERTISEMENT

"We're here to make Trump see and feel that an entire country, united, is rising up against him and his xenophobic, discriminatory and fascist stupidity," protester Julieta Rosas, a literature student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told AFP.

Source:

While Trump has united many Mexicans, there are still sharp divides over sentiment toward the Mexican government. "I back Peña because of the wall," taco-stand owner Ismael Apátiga, told The Guardian days prior to the march. "But I won’t back him on anything else."

Source:

“Donald Trump is a global threat,” Jaime Sánchez, one marcher headed toward the Mexican capital's Angel of Independence monument, told The Washington Post. “But we also have threats in Mexico, starting with the government.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Source:

Peña Nieto's government, and the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, has been riven by corruption. Peña Nieto has also presided over weak economic growth, which has been made worse by Trump's negative affect on the strength of the peso. All this is taking place amid a deteriorating security situation in much of the country.

Several of the PRI's former governors are on the run from corruption allegations, and Mexico's outgoing central-bank chief told his country that the US president could become a "horror film for Mexico

Peña Nieto has gotten the support of some of Mexico's elites, including billionaire Carlos Slim. "Media, businessmen and the elites see a power vacuum. They're the ones who are trying to reassure Mexicans that everything will be OK, because the president is in no position to do that currently," Esteban Illades, editor of Mexican magazine Nexos, told The Guardian. "That’s how shaky everything is."

Source:

ADVERTISEMENT

"Trump is being presented as Mexico's main problem. The main problem for most Mexicans is Peña Nieto," Ilán Semo, a history professor at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, told The Post. During the march, the hashtag "#It'sNotTrumpIt'sPena" trended on Twitter.

Source: ,

There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, about half of whom are from Mexico. Trump's promise to deport millions of immigrants reportedly has the government making contingency plans to handle the expected influx of deportees.

Source:

"Mexicans are outraged by many things. We’re outraged by poverty, we’re outraged by inequality, we’re outraged by impunity," Enrique Graue, rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the country’s largest public university and part of the Vibra Mexico coalition, told The Post. "The point is: What outrages us most? At this time, we’re most outraged by the treatment Mexico has received from the U.S. president."

ADVERTISEMENT

Source:

"Mexicans demand respect, we want bridges not walls," read one banner carried by marchers in Mexico City. Erick Smith, an American carrying a sign reading "Sorry Mexico," told AFP, "I came to say I'm ashamed of my president. I don't want this wall."

Source: ,

Despite the ferocity and prevalence of anti-Trump sentiment in Mexico, that feeling is, for many Mexicans, reserved for Trump alone. "We're speaking out against Trump," Mario Silvan, a lawyer, told The Post, "and not the American people."

Source:

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

Recommended articles

Here's everything to know about being a virgin on your wedding night

Here's everything to know about being a virgin on your wedding night

7 do's and don’ts of the Holy month of Ramadan

7 do's and don’ts of the Holy month of Ramadan

Top 5 sweetest celebrity mother-child relationships that stand out for us

Top 5 sweetest celebrity mother-child relationships that stand out for us

International Women's Day: 5 Nigerian female celebrities championing women’s rights

International Women's Day: 5 Nigerian female celebrities championing women’s rights

Top 5 female directors in Nollywood

Top 5 female directors in Nollywood

6 things that will break a Muslim's fast during Ramadan

6 things that will break a Muslim's fast during Ramadan

5 benefits of fasting during Ramadan

5 benefits of fasting during Ramadan

5 reasons Easter was more fun when we were children

5 reasons Easter was more fun when we were children

Dos and don’ts of supporting Muslims during Ramadan

Dos and don’ts of supporting Muslims during Ramadan

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT