MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� Several thousand people took to the streets of Mexico City on Saturday to protest crime, corruption and impunity in a demonstration organized by members of Generation Z, but which ended with strong backing from older supporters of opposition parties.
The demonstration was mostly peaceful but ended with some young people clashing with the police. Protesters attacked police with stones, fireworks, sticks and chains, grabbing police shields and other equipment.
The capital鈥檚 security secretary, Pablo V谩zquez. said 120 people were injured, 100 of them police officers. Twenty people were arrested.
In , members of the demographic group born between the late 1990s and early 2010s have organized protests against inequality, democratic backsliding and corruption.
The largest “Gen Z鈥� protests in September, following a ban on social media, and led to the resignation of that nation鈥檚 prime minister. In Mexico, many young people say they are frustrated with systemic problems like corruption and impunity for violent crimes.
鈥淲e need more security鈥� said Andres Massa, a 29-year-old business consultant who carried the pirate skull flag that has become a global symbol of Gen Z protests.
Arizbeth Garcia, a 43-year-old physician who joined the protests said she was marching for more funding for the public health system, and for better security because doctors 鈥渁re also exposed to the insecurity gripping the country, where you can be murdered and nothing happens.鈥�
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum still has high approval ratings despite a recent spate of high profile murders that includes the assassination of a popular mayor .
In the days leading up to Saturday鈥檚 protest, Sheinbaum accused right-wing parties of trying to infiltrate the Gen Z movement, and of using bots on social media to try to increase attendance.
This week some 鈥淕en Z鈥� social media influencers said they no longer backed Saturday鈥檚 protests. While elderly figures like former President Vicente Fox, and Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego published messages in support of the protests.
Saturday鈥檚 march was attended by people from several age groups, with supporters of the recently killed Michoacan Mayor Carlos Manzo, attending the protest wearing the straw hats that symbolize his political movement.
鈥淭he state is dying,鈥� said Rosa Maria Avila, a 65-year-old real estate agent who traveled from the town of Patzcuaro in Michoacan state.
鈥淗e was killed because he was a man who was sending officers into the mountains to fight delinquents. He had the guts to confront them,鈥� she said of Manzo.
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