Thousands take to the street for Mexico's 'march for democracy'
| Mexico City
Thousands of demonstrators cloaked in pink marched through cities in Mexico and abroad on Sunday in what they called a 鈥渕arch for democracy鈥� targeting the country鈥檚 ruling party in advance of the country鈥檚 June 2 elections.
The demonstrations called by Mexico鈥檚 opposition parties advocated for free and fair elections in the Latin American nation and railed against corruption the same day presidential front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum officially registered as a candidate for ruling party Morena.
Ms. Sheinbaum is largely seen as a continuation candidate of Mexico鈥檚 highly popular populist leader Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador. He鈥檚 adored by many voters who say he bucked the country鈥檚 elite parties from power in 2018 and represents the working class.
But the 70-year-old president has also been accused of making moves that endanger the country鈥檚 democracy. Last year, the leader slashed funding for the country鈥檚 electoral agency, the National Electoral Institute, and weakened oversight of campaign spending, something INE鈥檚 head said could 鈥渨ind up poisoning democracy itself.鈥� The agency鈥檚 color, pink, has been used as a symbol by demonstrators.
Mr. L贸pez Obrador has also attacked journalists in hours-long press briefings, has frequently attacked Mexico鈥檚 judiciary and claimed judges are part of a conservative conspiracy against his administration.
In Mexico City on Sunday, thousands of people dressed in pink flocked to the the city鈥檚 main plaza roaring 鈥済et L贸pez out.鈥� Others carried signs reading 鈥渢he power of the people is greater than the people in power.鈥�
Among the opposition organizations marching were National Civic Front, Yes for Mexico, Citizen Power, Civil Society Mexico, UNE Mexico, and United for Mexico.
鈥淒emocracy doesn鈥檛 solve lack of water, it doesn鈥檛 solve hunger, it doesn鈥檛 solve a lot of things. But without democracy you can鈥檛 solve anything,鈥� said Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, a prominent politician from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in a video posted to social media calling for people to join the protests.
The PRI held uninterrupted power in Mexico for more than 70 years.
Marches were organized in a hundred cities across the country, and in other cities in the United States and Spain.
Still, the president remains highly popular and his ally Ms. Sheinbaum appears set to coast easily into the presidency. She leads polls by a whopping 64% over her closest competition, X贸chitl G谩lvez, who has polled at 31% of the votes.
Mr. L贸pez Obrador railed against the protests during is Friday morning press briefing, questioning whether the organizers cared about democracy.
鈥淭hey are calling the demonstration to defend corruption, they are looking for the return of the corrupt, although they say they care about democracy,鈥� he said.
This story was reported by the Associated Press.
