The Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) (Spanish: ''Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad'') is an ongoing protest movement that began on 28 March 2011 in response to the Mexican Drug War, government and corporate corruption, regressive economic policies, and growing

economic inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of ...

and poverty. The protests were called by Mexican poet

Javier Sicilia Javier Sicilia (1956, Mexico City) is a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist, peace activist and journalist in Mexico. He contributes to various print media such as the Mexico City daily ''La Jornada'' and '' Proceso'' magazine. He was founder and dir ...

in response to the death of his son in

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

. The protesters have called for an end to the Drug War, the legalization of drugs, and the removal of then-

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 1 December 2006 to 30 November 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 ...

. Protests have occurred in over 40 Mexican cities, including an estimated 50,000 in Cuernavaca and 20,000 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. The protests continued in Cuernavaca on 5 May, when over 600 marched against the Drug War. The movement headed by Sicilia may have had a role in the rejection in 2011 of a reform to the National Security Act that would have granted more attributions related to public security to the

Mexican Armed Forces The Mexican Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de México) are the military forces of the United Mexican States. The Spanish crown established a standing military in colonial Mexico in the eighteenth century. After Mexican independence in 1821, ...

Events

May 2011 protests

Following

's sons death on 28 March, and open letter "To Mexico's Politicians and Criminals" a silent protest took place in

Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Sq ...

, Mexico City on 8 May. The protest began in

, Morelos where more than 200,000 protesters walked 100 km to Mexico City. Some protesters were covered in blood, while others carried pictures of their dead family members. The slogans in these protests include "Estamos hasta la madre!" ("We've had it!") and "No más sangre" ("No more blood").

5 September 2011

On 5 September 2011, President Felipe Calderon gave the fifth state of the nation address since his contested election in 2006. More than 50,000 people attended a demonstration to the

main square in Mexico City. More than half the square has been occupied since May 2011.

The 15 October Movement

Demonstrations occurred throughout Mexico as part of the

15 October 2011 global protests The 15 October 2011 global protests were part of a series of protests inspired by the Arab Spring, the Icelandic protests, the Portuguese "Geração à Rasca", the Spanish "Indignants", the Greek protests, and the Occupy movement. The protes ...

. Hundreds of people marched at the Monument to the Revolution at one of the smaller protests of the day. This protest was connected to the world

Occupy Movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

, which although centres around the world financial imbalance, carries multiple causes. The protest held in Mexico contained signs that read; No blood or STOP the war on drugs.

Meeting with Cabinet

The organizers of the main protests, also known as the ''Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity'' were able to voice their concerns to the Federal Cabinet in June 2011. In response to the protests anti-military concerns Calderon explained "Violence does not occur in a particular place because the Federal Forces are there. The opposite is true: the Federal Forces are there because that is where there is violence. It is the violence of criminals that kill and abduct rather than the state's response to combat them that has caused this situation."

Goals

The main goals of these protests are to 'pull the army off the streets', decrease the death number specifically of innocent bystanders by ensuring the safety of citizens. The protesters are not in favour of President Calderon's drug-cartel dismantling policies, namely his national security strategy creating 'militarization of the war on drugs', where cities became reminiscent of battle grounds between battling cartel and government militia.

Controversies

Despite the many deaths of political figures, the protesters brought to light the heavy civilian death toll, carrying pictures of loved ones who have been killed in the country's drug related violence. The numbers are not concrete due to lack of police records and discrepancy but estimates but the number to the tens of thousands. This discrepancy points to police corruption as authorities are being accused of "under-reporting the number of deaths or deliberately changing the details of those killed to make it appear that the victims are criminals rather than civilians". Additionally, Calderon's National Security Strategy was heavily debated as it sanctions 'warrantless searches, the detention of suspects without charges; the collection of intelligence and counterintelligence "using any method; and electronic surveillance of citizens".

National Pact

A Nation Pact, signed 14 June was a collaborate effort to set out an outline for the civilians demands. These demands follow the outline of the goals of the protests and include ' giving more visibility to the victims of violence and their families, ending the administration's "militarized approach" to combating crime, punishing corruption and impunity, working to address the social and economic causes of organized crime.'Can Mexico's Peace Movement Change Calderon's Strategy?

International impact

The influence and growth of these protests have led to smaller demonstrations held in cities all over the world. Cities with Mexican sub-communities such as Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Montreal, The Hague, and Frankfurt have held their own protests in support of crisis in Mexican cities. Protests were also coordinated in Washington, D.C., as U.S. policy supports and supplies Calderon's policies.

References

{{Portal bar, Society, Politics, Business and economics, Mexico Protests in Mexico 2011 in Mexico Battles of the Mexican drug war Mexican

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...