Mexicans blocked border crossings, thronged city streets and shunned US-owned stores and restaurant chains in "A Day Without Gringos," supporting rallies across the US demanding immigration reform.
The spillover effect from protests and boycotts in the US was tough to measure south of the border on Monday because May 1 is a holiday that closes schools, as well as many businesses and offices.
But major US chains like Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Burger King were open -- and, while some locals stayed way, they were far from deserted in Mexico City.
PHOTO: AP
Shopping at Wal-Mart, 28-year-old salesman Juan Ortiz said he supported legalizing migrants, but didn't think it was practical to boycott US goods.
"You have to buy what is least expensive here, and I have to buy things for my family," he said.
In the border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego, about 400 boycott supporters blocked half the access lanes to an international bridge to discourage Mexicans from crossing into the US to shop.
In another border city, Nuevo Laredo, protesters blocked a bridge over the Rio Grande into Texas for a few hours.
Far more visible, however, were the protests of thousands of unionized workers, who dedicated annual May 1 marches to immigration, carrying banners that read "Total Support for Migrants."
"Legalization for all migrants. We are going for the legalization of all in the US," said marcher Ada Omana, who lives in Chicago and serves as migrant-affairs secretary for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party.
"Legalization is not a prize, it's a recognition of our work," she said.
The protests coincided with a "Day Without Immigrants" in the US, where hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants skipped work and took to the streets.
Some in Mexico saw the marches as the beginning of a new, cross-border Latino movement.
"This is a great revolution of the bronze race, the brown race," Marti Batres, Democratic Revolution's Mexico City director, told a rally. "Our nation goes beyond the Rio Bravo [Rio Grande]," he said, noting that half of Mexico's territory became the western US.
Masked Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos told a rally of about 2,000 supporters outside the US Embassy that immigrants in the US are "fighting in the belly of the beast."
"As Zapatistas, we support the boycott of all the US products that have proliferated in Mexico," he said, vowing to "expel from our land all the rich and powerful ... including, of course, US capitalists."
The Zapatistas led a brief armed uprising in 1994 in the southern state of Chiapas to demand greater Indian rights, and have since been locked in an uneasy truce with the government.
Federal officials tried to distance themselves from the events. Still, Roberto Madrazo, one of three major candidates vying to replace outgoing President Vicente Fox in elections July 2, promised not to buy any product with US roots.
At least a half-dozen state governors also endorsed the boycott of US companies.
Pro-immigration rallies were also held throughout Central America. In Honduras, union members boycotted US soft drinks and fast food.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS