Mexico has had a pretty bad international image over these last few weeks and months. First, a group of American civilians were kidnapped and murdered by what’s suspected to be a group of ex-special forces mercenaries, known as Grupo Hercules, who work for the Mexican government. More recently, the country has been shattered by massive civilian protests against government corruption that were started by the kidnapping and potential murder of 43 teaching students from Guerrero State. The students were kidnapped after attending a protest in Iguala and it is strongly suspected that the mayor of the city, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife are both connected to local drug cartels and ordered the kidnappings and probable executions. With forensic tests being carried out on bodies that were found in a mass grave and that had been burned and chopped into pieces, the entire country is waiting with bated breath to see if the story of the missing students has finally come to an end.
Understandably, people were furious about what happened to the students. But that anger has now given way to something much larger and cathartic; the entire country seems to be gripped in a seething, cathartic combination of anger, an exhaustion of being afraid, and of derision towards the government that they see as obviously having a hand in the disappearance of the students. The potential massacre has finally unleashed all of the pent up anger and frustration that Mexican citizens have felt for years about a government that they see as being corrupt, inefficient, uncaring, and in the hands of the cartels who have killed so many innocents. This unleashing has led to a series of massive protests that have crippled entire cities and that have left the government reeling from the backlash. Now, as more and more protests occur and Mexico City itself is bracing for one of the largest as of yet, the world is watching to see how the Mexican government responds and whether they will actually attempt to implement some of the very reasonable demands of the Mexican people.
If you’d like to read more, the link is here.