By Bronson Pettitt
Mexico Weekly / April 6, 2011
Marches will take place in dozens of cities on Wednesday to demand an end to violence and to call for peace amid escalating drug-related violence.
The mobilization in at least 32 cities and more than a dozen in other countries (http://marchaporlaseguridad6deabril.blogspot.com/ ) is believed to be the largest of its kind since late 2006, when President Calderón decided to launch an armed offensive against drug cartels that have left tens of thousands dead.
The movement, organized by the Network for Peace and Justice, was created in response to the torture and murder of five young people in Morelos last week.
Among the victims was Juan Francisco Sicilia, 24-year-old son of poet and columnist Javier Sicilia.
Sicilia met with Calderón Wednesday morning, but details of their meeting were not immediately known.
‘No More Poetry'
Wednesday's movement comes amid a widespread frustration of violence and homicides.
“The death of my son Juan Francisco has prompted solidarity and outrage of citizens and the media, which my family and I appreciate from the bottom of our hearts,” Sicilia wrote in a letter directed at politicians and criminals published in Proceso magazine Sunday.
The tragedy also prompted Sicilia to announce that he will no longer write poems.
He wrote his last poem, dedicated to his son, on the flight back to Mexico from the Philippines after he was informed of his son’s death.
The last half of the eight-line poem reads:
“And the pain does not leave me / There is only one world left / For the silence of the just / Only for your silence and my silence, Juanelo."
Failed Strategies
In his letter published in Proceso, Sicilia criticized politicians for their “poorly planned, poorly executed, poorly directed war” against drug traffickers that have left more than 35,000 people dead - 9,000 of whom have not been identified, according to the National Human Rights Commission.
“We are sick and tired, because the corruption of our justice system generates complicity with crime and impunity,” Sicilia wrote. “We are sick and tired because [as a result of violence] citizens have lost confidence in politicians, police officers and the Army.”
On Wednesday, Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna defended the federal government’s strategy against drug cartels, and said “protests should be directed against criminals,” not the government.
In a television interview with Carlos Loret de Mola, García Luna said the armed offensive against drug cartels was not “poorly planned” nor “poorly directed,” as Sicilia wrote.
“The strategy is dynamic, not static. I don’t share the opinion that the Mexican government should make deals with criminals,” he said, referring to reports that Sicilia had called on the government to negotiate with drug trafficking groups to put an end to violence.
However, in a press conference Tuesday Sicilia said his remarks were taken out of context.
‘Sick and Tired'
Mexican columnists have elaborated on the phrase Sicilia has popularized in recent days: “Estamos hasta la madre” (We are sick and tired).
In his Wednesday column in Excélsior, political commentator Ricardo Alemán said the phrase went from being a colloquial phrase of annoyance to a powerful call for street protests.
“The majority of Mexicans have adopted the poet’s call: ‘estamos hasta la madre’,” wrote Alemán.
One of Wednesday’s main protests will take place in Sicilia’s home city of Cuernavaca, where protesters will march to the main city square.
Other marches will be held in Mexico City, Cancún, Ciudad Juárez, and at least 21 other cities.
Elsewhere, marches will be held near Mexican embassies and consulates in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, The Hague, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Santiago.
