Generation Z or centenary In Mexico it has become a blank sign in which multiple interests have managed to place their agenda. This is demonstrated by the demonstration organized last weekend by the generation of young people under 28 and which ended with a violent clash with the police in the Zócalo of Mexico City, the square of greatest political importance. The chronicles of the mobilization indicate that a large number of participants did not belong to that age group, but still to that of millennialsalthough there were also many elderly people with their families.
The demands of the protest were very broad – from the demand for justice for the murder of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, to the resignation of president Claudia Sheinbaum – but a common denominator unified the voices: the disqualification of Morena, the governing party. It is assumed that many of the participants in the march centenary They have participated in the past in the mobilizations of the Pink Tide, the related citizen who supported the presidential candidacy of the opposition One piecethe anime that gave a face to the awakening of generation Z from the mobilizations in Nepal.
The expressions of an intolerant far right have crept into this plurality of interests. Photos circulated online of one attendee with half his face covered and wearing a T-shirt displaying a huge swastika across his chest. At the same time, on a public building, someone spray-painted an anti-Semitic slur against Sheinbaum because of his Jewish genealogy. Some carried sexist signs that made direct reference to the president’s body. An example of the misogyny that ran through the protest, photographed on a poster: “I was no longer sexist, but Claudia arrived.” We must add the classist slogans, reflected in allusions to the president as “principal.”
The fierce clash at the gates of the National Palace, which left dozens of people injured, mostly police officers from the capital, as well as several young detainees, has once again raised the question of who is being served by the violence in the protests that arise from peaceful resistance. From the governing party we read that there is a hidden intention to replicate images of chaos similar to those of Nepal, where a movement organized through the same platforms centenarians He took to the streets and managed to overthrow an authoritarian government. The idea that Mexico is a “failed state” – as we read on other banners – has been adopted influencers far-right extremists from the United States, who are trying to pave the way for the Donald Trump administration’s justified regional offensive in the fight against the cartels.
President Sheinbaum sought to delegitimize the weekend demonstration by claiming that behind it was a crossover of interests that exceeded those of Generation Z. An investigation conducted by the government itself indicated that the protest was led by influencers, botpopularizers of the Latin American far right and big businessmen such as Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who has become one of Morena’s greatest opponents and who entertains the idea of entering the arena of electoral dispute. This campaign, according to the Government, cost 90 million pesos (4.8 million dollars).
In the end, the great absentee in all this manipulation is Generation Z itself. And it is urgent to pay attention to it, even more so when academic evidence accumulates that men in that sector are moving towards anti-democratic positions and are questioning the rights historically won through civil and political struggles. For them, the rabbit hole of forums incelwhere contempt for women and other men is encouraged, it is presented as a dangerous confirmation of their prejudices.
What do young Mexicans want? Analyst Viri Ríos points out that, according to data from Latinobarómetro, Generation Z in this country feels distrust of the government, but at low levels compared to other nations in the region. The data also shows that young Mexicans feel a greater affinity with the ruling party, which could be explained by the huge investment Morena has made in social aid aimed at that sector. THE centenarians Mexicans too, continues Ríos, believe that freedom of expression, gender equality and political participation are guaranteed in the country. Their biggest concern is the lack of opportunities in the capitalist economy environment.
“Mexican Generation Z stands out for being less rebellious than many believe,” observes Ríos. It also seems to be less reactionary. Mexico has historically been a containment dam for the advance of the far right that is gripping the American continent from the north and the south. It is a reserve of political culture that still gives its all to focus policies on young people and reduce, and certainly change, the gender gap that is directing some young people towards the anti-rights right.
