Mexicans protest crime en masse

MEXICO CITY – It’s the indignation of having to drive to work with a life-size dummy to fool would-be kidnappers and other criminals that drove Ana Benito to what organizers called Sunday the largest protest in this country’s modern history.

“Thank God and my dummy that I haven’t been a victim yet, but this is no way to live,” said Benito, 39, a businesswoman in Contreras, a suburb in the southwestern part of the city.

Joining Benito were an estimated 300,000 protesters who formed a sea of people dressed in white – mostly silent, marching through the capital to protest a random crime wave they called epidemic and demanding action from local, state and federal elected officials.

Smaller protests were held nationwide.

The march marked an end to what radio commentator and political analyst Denise Dresser has described as the “silent citizens of Mexico’s fledgling democracy.” Indeed, in a city where protests are a dime a dozen, this one was poignantly different.

These weren’t seasoned protesters but ordinary citizens, entire families, young and old, poor people mixed with an impressive number of Mexico’s middle and upper classes – such as Rosa Elena Prieto, who said it was her first protest.

She said she has been robbed five times in the last four years and recently escaped an attempted rape.

“We want to take back our country, rescue our nation because the politicians won’t do it,” said Prieto, 49, a mother of three who called on authorities to institute the death penalty for kidnappers, a popular chant among many in a country divided over the issue.

Some came from as far as Chihuahua, bordering Texas, and joined thousands who marched from the Angel of Independence monument to the Zocalo square, where they sang the national anthem and church bells rang.

Their message: “Enough,” and an end to impunity in a nation where about 95 percent of all crimes go unsolved.

About eight out of 10 of the criminals are officers tied to law enforcement, according crime experts.

Protesters marched alongside victims and survivors and in memory of the thousands who over the years have been kidnapped, robbed or killed.

Among the victims was Elizabeth Salinas Maciel, 26, who was murdered last month.

“We’re here to awaken people’s conscience,” said Salinas’ mother, Maria Elena Maciel Amezcua, 51, who traveled from the state of Jalisco to demand justice for her daughter.

Turnout figures were debated. Some said the actual number was more than 500,000.

What’s clear, organizers said, is that the figures surpassed the thousands who turned out to protest the student massacre of 1968, the poor government response to earthquake victims in 1984 and even the massive turnout of people who jubilantly packed the streets when then-President Lazaro Cardenas nationalized the oil industry in 1938.

Looking around, 43-year-old Veronica Romero said, “Look, we’re like a river of angry people.”

Protesters hope their presence will force local, state and federal officials to take action.

They’re seeking harsher anti-crime measures much like those in Argentina, where the kidnapping and murder of a young student led to massive protests and tougher measures.

March organizers are scheduled to meet Tuesday with President Vicente Fox, who last week said his government was waging the “mother of all battles” against criminals.

While civil war-torn Colombia remains the kidnapping leader in the region, the trend is on the rise in Mexico.

Recent kidnappings in and around Mexico City have left at least 12 dead.

“This is not the country I want for my children and grandchildren,” said Lydia Rangel, 55, a mother of 10 whose children have been robbed and kidnapped four times in the last year.