• Thousands of demonstrators marched from the Angel of Independence to the National Palace, where a protest against insecurity and corruption turned violent on Saturday in Mexico City.
• Organized mainly by Generation Z youth groups, the demonstration mobilized citizens angered by deteriorating security and government corruption, including the assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo.
• Masked protesters tore down metal barriers protecting the National Palace, prompting riot police to respond with tear gas and smoke bombs as some demonstrators hurled stones and pushed fences.
• Political responses were mixed, with some Gen Z social-media influencers withdrawing support while Vicente Fox, former president, and Ricardo Salinas Pliego publicly backed the protests; Andres Massa said, `We need more security`.
• This mobilization echoes Gen Z protests elsewhere this year, with global Gen Z protests this year challenging inequality and corruption and Nepal protests in September forcing a prime minister’s resignation.

Thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Mexico on Saturday to protest against government security policies which they say have failed to curb increasing violence in the country.

The protests, which took place under the banner of “Generation Z” in the style of other such youth movements around the world, were prompted in particular by the murder of an anti-crime mayor earlier this month.

“Carlos did not die; the government killed him,” chanted demonstrators in Mexico City, referring to the late mayor of Uruapan in the western state of Michoacan, who was shot dead at a public Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos) event on November 1.

A small group of hooded protesters even tore down metal fences around the National Palace where Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum lives and works, prompting clashes with riot police who responded with tear gas and fire extinguishers.

“This is how you should have protected Carlos Manzo,” some of the protesters shouted at the security forces, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mexico City’s public safety secretary Pablo Vazquez said in a press conference that 100 police officers were injured, including 40 who required hospital treatment.

Another 20 civilians were also injured, 20 arrested and another 20 “referred for administrative offenses.”

Sheinbaum: protests are ‘paid for’ from abroad

Earlier this week, President Sheinbaum questioned the motivations for the demonstrations and said at her regular morning press conference that the protests were “inorganic” and “paid for.”

“It is a movement promoted from abroad against the government,” the Mexican president said, claiming it was organized in large part by right-leaning political opponents and promoted by bots on social media.

While there were international elements to the protests, such as the pirate flag emblematic of the Japanese manga “One Piece,” which has become a symbol of global youth protest, other aspects were distinctly Mexican.

In addition to banners referring to the late Uruapan Mayor Manzo, others called for the removal of Sheinbaum’s MORENA party.