A nonprofit group promoting civic-minded behavior in this tumultuous metropolis is channeling bin Laden, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Mother Teresa and US President George W. Bush to convince unruly drivers to change their ways.
The campaign by Muevete por Tu Ciudad -- roughly translated as "Do Something for Your City" -- was designed to improve everyday behavior on the streets of Mexico City, where cars drift through red lights and some police can be paid to look the other way.
Founders say their billboards and radio spots are designed to jolt the city's jaded commuters, police and public-transit drivers into courteous behavior.
"If the traffic sign is telling you and the police officer is telling you, who else do you want to tell you?" said Claudia Montero, co-director of Muevete, echoing the group's "who-else" slogan. "Do you want an assassin to tell you?"
Advertising firm Kastner & Partners in Mexico suggested using famous and infamous international figures, donating its design services and using free images in the public domain to craft the ads.
On one street-level billboard, the image of Saddam warns passers-by, "You can generate chaos: Don't you double park." Mother Teresa yells out, "Don't give bribes to the devil!"
Two radio spots, yet to be aired, parody Bush and Osama bin Laden.
"We are going to exterminate all of those who run red lights," Bush warns in Spanish with a heavy American accent. "People who ask for bribes are going to be punished by me. ... You are going to know what pain is."
In another ad, the voice of bin Laden warns in Spanish, "I am going to come out of hiding to punish, the way they deserve, taxi and bus drivers that don't drive well."
The billboard ads have prompted some incredulity. The Mexican newspaper Reforma this week announced in a front-page headline, "Saddam Hussein gives classes on civic behavior in Mexico City." It was accompanied by a photo of the ad.
"They may like it or not like it, but they comment on it," Montero said.
In other civic campaigns, Muevete volunteers have appeared in packs at traffic lights with hand-held stop signs to shame drivers into staying put until the next green. The group has handed out "citizen tickets," fake citations admonishing bad behavior with a thumbs-down diagram.
Muevete has not been alone in encouraging Mexico City residents to adopt a better attitude.
Commissioned by private donors to provide crime-fighting advice to Mexico City's police department, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting firm said city dwellers could play a key role by obeying traffic signals and not offering bribes to police officers.
Despite the good advice, local authorities have tried and failed so far to cultivate a culture of respect and cordiality in the streets, said Claudia Adeath, Muevete's other co-president.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
Near the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has made threats in the past few months to retake control of the canal, claiming Beijing has too much influence in its operations. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. The mayor’s office said in
‘TRUMP’S LONG GAME’: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that while fraud was a serious issue, the US president was politicizing it to defund programs for Minnesotans US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday said it was auditing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somalian origin to detect fraud that could lead to denaturalization, or revocation of citizenship, while also announcing a freeze of childcare funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some daycare centers. “Under US law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Denaturalization cases are rare and can take years. About 11 cases were pursued per year between 1990 and 2017, the Immigrant Legal Resource
RSS