Thousands of protesters marched on Sunday September 1st, in Mexico City to protest the policies of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, while the president was delivering his First Government Report.
“We are here to express our disagreement about the way the government is making decisions for the country, and the way economic and political matters are being conducted,” said Homero Velázquez, co-founder of the civil group Chalecos México, one of the civilian groups that organized the march.
The protest started in the Mexican capital at 11:00 AM local time, at the iconic Angel of Independence, located on Paseo de la Reforma, bringing together around three thousand people who marched all the way down to the Monument of the Revolution.
Throughout the protest, which took place in a peaceful manner, slogans such as “Get out Lopez” and “Mexico, Mexico” were chanted.
Several banners asking for the resignation of the president, the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena), and others denouncing that the president is a “danger” to the country, could be seen along the march.
Other banners stated the lack of medicines at public hospitals, the poor economic growth, unemployment, and the high rates of crime and violence across the country, among others.
Velázquez explained that a dozen groups participated in the protest, including Futuro 21, a new opposition platform against López Obrador and made up of members of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), other parties and civil society figures.
He indicated that the purpose of this concentration is to ensure “the defense of the rule of law, respect for the Constitution and the defense of the progress of Mexico. “
He considered that the “stats” reflect that López Obrador’s policies “are not working”, especially in economic matters.
In fact, in the presentation of the Government report from the National Palace, López Obrador acknowledged that the country’s economy has grown “just a little.”
Mexico had zero growth of 0% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the previous quarter, and the Government admitted a slowdown.
In that sense, one of the protesters, who identified herslef as “Doris”, said that citizens are “fed up” with López Obrador’s “authoritarianism. He does not listen to the people. (…) He is a bad ruler and he does not know how to govern, the country is getting out of hand, especially in terms of insecurity,” she said.
Another protester, businessman Sergio Durán, explained that the country “is in the brink of a recession”, in a critical economic situation, and called for a change of government because “the people can no longer stand”.
San Miguel Times Newsroom