Youth protest former Mexican ruling party's rise

[Judi Lynn]

Youth protest former Mexican ruling party's rise
19 May 2012 21:45
Source: reuters // Reuters
By Noe Torres and Mica Rosenberg

MEXICO CITY, May 19 (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators protested in Mexico City on Saturday against opposition presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who is far ahead in polls and poised to lead the party that ruled Mexico for much of the 20th century back to power.

A contingent of mainly students, accompanied by groups of unionized workers and peasant farmers, held banners lambasting the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and its candidate, Pena Nieto.

"I have a brain, I won't vote for the PRI," one banner read.

Demonstrators also held signs accusing Pena Nieto of being unfairly favored by television companies and of having been corrupt and repressive as governor of Mexico State, a post he held from 2005 until 2011.

More:
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/detail.dot?id=71ebb6f9-e967-445c-8b91-68e610e32cfe

[Judi Lynn]

1. Young Mexicans march against old ruling party, despite lead in polls

Young Mexicans march against old ruling party, despite lead in polls
MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
6:21 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2012

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of college-age demonstrators marched down Mexico City's main boulevard Saturday to protest a possible return of the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, which held Mexico's presidency without interruption from 1929 to 2000.

PRI presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leads in polls ahead of the July 1 election, but he was heckled by young protesters during a recent appearance at a university. Students blamed him for a violent crackdown on protesters outside Mexico City in 2006. Later, some PRI members suggested the hecklers weren't really students, further enflaming passions.

In a move unusual for Mexico, the demonstrators did not carry banners for any of the other three candidates in the presidential race, instead shouting slogans against what they don't want, a return of the PRI, whose 71-year-rule was marked by repression, corruption and periodic economic crises.

Playing on the PRI's name, one banner read "I don't want a PRImitive Mexico." Another banner read: "We don't forgive or forget 70 years of corruption."

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-mexico-elections,0,3253177.story#