“We’re Fed Up,” the Cry from Acapulco and Taxco
(Acapulco, JG 9 May) Acapulco and Taxco provided the backdrop for two public demonstrations against the violence that has been gripping Mexico during the past several years and months. The main target of protest was not the drug traffickers and organized crime, but rather the policy of the government. In Acapulco, hundreds marched in silence, to express “We’re Fed Up!” with the numerous deaths and the other consequences, which President Calderón has called “collateral damage.” Part of the collateral damage is the serious injury that drug violence – and the war against it – have caused to Acapulco’s tourism base, its bread and butter.
The group gathered at the flag pole on the Costera by Parque Papagayo and marched to the Zócalo. At least 500 persons participated, all of them dressed in white. The banners they carried said “No more blood” and “We’re fed up”. These phrases come from a national social movement against the violence, spurred by the nationally-respected poet Javier Sicilia. Other signs said, “Stop spending for arms,” “Give peace a chance, not war,” “Enough is enough: Ceasefire,” “Don’t fight violence with more violence,” and “This is not our war.”
Several of the marchers had messages about their own personal losses, of a son or some other innocent victim. Many wore t-shirts with photos of murdered or missing young people. Persons of all ages, social strata and walks of life took part in the demonstration. Representatives of the churches and of civil institutions took part as well.
Once the group had arrived in the Zócalo, the spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Acapulco, Jesús Mendoza Zaragoza, announced that finally voices have been raised to demand peace. “Fear is the main weapon of the violent. Citizens have energetically demonstrated with a lively interest in defending peace. [The violence] has shaken us, has left us abandoned, vulnerable and insecure. It was time that we should start to shake off the fear, stand up, go out into the streets, and walk together. We are not alone. We all share a common interest in constructing peace,” he said.
In Taxco another 200 persons marched, mainly women. The message was the same. Workers, business people, homemakers, students; in short, everyone demanded a halt to the violence and a return to peace within the city. As the contingent passed different cross streets, it picked up more and more adherents. They, too, marched in silence. They, too, called upon the federal government to end its war against organized crime, which has resulted in so much death and damage.
