Protests

In a city that sees protests at least weekly, if not daily, groups must resort to extreme measures to gain attention. For several weeks now, a banner has been at the base of Cuauhtemoc's statue, naming names and demanding restitution. This statue is at the intersection of two major streets, el Paseo de la Reforma and Insurgentes. On traffic islands nearby, people representing 400 pueblos of Veracruz have set up an encampment of tarp tents. They say that they were dispossessed of their lands by a former governor (now a senator) and two other senators. Men with strategically placed mug shots, accompanied by drum beats, protest on the sidewalks and sometimes into the streets. Women, stark naked as if to demonstrate the severity of their dispossesion, walk between the lines of traffic. A Google search turned up an article with some details about their struggle. It began fifteen years ago, and the manifestaciones in the DF have been going on for five years. Why nude? They tried a hunger strike, but the Senate went on vacation without hearing their demand, so now they say, "We're campesinos. We use the only weapon we have."