Mexico Marches against Violence · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Mexicans, fed up with the increasing violence and insecurity their country has been facing this past year, as it was mentioned on this past Global Voices article,  decided to have a silent march and candle-lit anthem singing throughout the country and in some other locations like Costa Rica, USA, Spain, Israel, Poland and England during Sunday August 31st, 2008. The website Lets Illuminate Mexico has details about who supported the march, their reasons and it will soon have video and photos.
MaJaDeRiA, a Colombian blogger living in Mexico, writes in her blog about her experience marching in this event, and noticing how class divided it was. The upper crust did head out to march, but stayed at the starting point, the Angel of Independence statue, the middle and lower classes, known by some as the “metro travelling class” did meet at the Zocalo. She ends with a few questions for the Mexican citizens:
• Por que no había una unanimidad de consignas?. Entre pedir la paz, pedir que si no cumplen renuncien y pedir que se acaben los secuestros….qué era lo que en realidad pedían?.
• Nunca entendí por que la marcha no era contra la violencia, sino contra la inoperancia de las autoridades. Una cosa va de la mano de la otra?. No debería uno marchar contra la violencia y pedir la revocatoria del mandato de las autoridades en otra parte?.
• Quién es el malo acá?. Los delincuentes, las autoridades, o quién?.
• Por qué llegar al Zócalo y no a los Pinos?. (a.k.a la casa del Presidente).
-Why wasn't there a unanimity in slogans? Among the requests for peace, asking for those who don't do their work to resign and demanding the end of kidnapping… what was it that they were really asking for?
– I never understood why the march wasn't against violence, but against the uselessness of the authorities. One thing goes along with the other? Shouldn't one march against violence and ask the revocation of the authorities mandate somewhere else?
– Who is the bad guy here? The delinquents, the authorities, or whom?
-Why reach the Zocalo and not los Pinos (a.k.a. the President's house)?
Her video Marcha D.F. on how the  is on Blip.tv. The Spanish captions read: I don't know if marches
are good for anything other than giving incentives for informal commerce. But I do know that MANY people were at the D.F. March. It was good to see them walk.From the Mexican city of Monterrey, yazpeace posts a video of the candle-lit anthem singing: