A small group of activists organized by Tonatierra and the Comites de Defensa del Barrio gathered outside the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix on Friday afternoon to bring awareness to the abduction of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico.
Singing and chanting, the protestors started to expand east and west along the sidewalk. Additional cars pulled into the consulate office parking lot off Third Street and McDowell Road. Signs that once lay against a nearby light pole were picked up, casting shadows against each face. Percussion drums echoed the strum of a single guitar and the frequent honks of cars passing by as the group continued to grow.
Carlos Corral, a community organizer, heard about the event on Facebook. He said the demonstrators were unsatisfied with the Mexican government’s response to the abduction and the system of capitalism as a whole.
“Whether it’s black, brown, yellow, red, they’ve been getting restricted more by eccentric beliefs,” Corral said. “(The government) looks at us as less than human.”
Corral, 23, was born in Mexico and came to Phoenix when he was 8 years old. He is currently unemployed. During the midterm elections, he worked to register voters and pick up ballots on the behalf of Latino voters.
“A lot of people are asleep on what is going on,” Corral said.
Deputy Consul José Antonio Aguayo Vázquez said Mexican authorities are still in the process of investigating the late September disappearances and are aware of the protests that are occurring in Phoenix and across the U.S.
“It’s a lot of people,” Aguayo Vázquez said in reference to the 43 missing students. “That’s not seen in Mexico before. The government of Mexico is very concerned about this disappearance. We don’t have any evidence that they are dead or something like that. That is why authorities are investigating.”
The protesters began to march west on McDowell Road toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office located off Central Avenue south of Encanto Boulevard. Police sirens joined the chorus of voices and instruments.
“The terror by the ‘narco’ Mexican state has to stop,” organizer Salvador Reza said. “But also, we are coming here because, at the same time, we know most of the funding is coming from the United States.”
Aguayo Vázquez said none of the protesters have made an effort to contact him and arrange a meeting; however, a letter was delivered last week on the behalf of another group.
“Mexico is a democracy,” Aguayo Vázquez said. “We can do anything we want. This is not the only group that protests.”
Another protest was held outside the Consulate General’s office on Tuesday of last week. The office was closed for Veterans Day.
Reza said comprehensive immigration reform, or lack thereof, also related to the activists’ objective, as about 400 people die every year at the border between the United States and Mexico.
“Nobody says anything about that,” Reza said. “It’s just as bad. It’s the same type of terror policies that are being exercised by the two governments.”
Contact the reporter at Carolyn.Corcoran@asu.edu
