Mexico Institute in the News: Elections results protests are shrinking in Mexico — here’s why
The second weekend of July, only 4,000 people attended a protest that was mostly spontaneous, and this weekend, a marcha that was organized by the #YoSoy132 student movement [and other social groups] and promoted as part of a new strategy to “resist” the “imposition” of PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, only garnered some 30,000 people. Does this mean that the #YoSoy132 student movement and the rest of the “anti-imposition” crowd is losing support?.. The Mexico Institute's Eric Olson comments.
Eric Olson the Mexico Program Director at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Affairs in Washington DC, believes that we should not jump to conclusions. According to Olson, numbers have dwindled due to the ongoing holiday season in Mexico. “Participation will dwindle with events as it’s hard to keep momentum going,” Wilson told Univision News. “An event after the court’s response on the election [slated for September 6] should portray a more accurate snapshot of the [anti-fraud] movement’s support.”
Political analyst Hector Faya disagrees with Olson. Faya is a politics professor at Mexico City’s Iberoamericana University who is not affiliated to any of Mexico’s parties. He says that these lowering numbers can be attributed to changes within the YoSoy 132 movement that have alienated some Mexican citizens. “There has been a fundamental change in the movement’s mission, allegiances, and means…they bring to mind old days of intolerance and 2006’s radicalism…polls have shown people do not agree with radical social movements,” Faya said.
Read the article here: http://univisionnews.tumblr.com/post/27929094419/why-elections-protests-are-shrinking-in-mexico
About the Author
Eric L. Olson
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
Mexico Institute
The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute. Read more
Mexico Institute
The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute. Read more
