Yo Soy 132 | |
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Part of the Mexican general election, 2012, Impact of the Arab Spring | |
Date | 15 May 2012 | — ongoing
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Yo Soy 132 is a social movement composed for the most part of Mexican university students from private and public universities, residents of Mexico, and supporters from 50 cities around the world.[1] It began as opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican media's allegedly biased coverage of the 2012 general election.[2] The name Yo Soy 132, Spanish for "I Am 132", originated in an expression of solidarity with the protest's initiators.The phrase drew inspiration from the Occupy movement and the Spanish 15-M movement.[3][4][5] The protest movement was self-claimed as the "Mexican spring" (an allusion to the Arab Spring) by its first spokespersons,[6] and as the "Mexican occupy movement" in the international press.[7]
On May 11, 2012, then Institutional Revolutionary Party Mexican Presidential Candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, visited the Ibero-American University to present his political platform to the students as part of the Buen Ciudadano Ibero[8]forum. At the end of his discussion, he was asked by a group of students a question regarding the 2006 civil unrest in San Salvador Atenco,in which then-governor of the State of Mexico Peña Nieto called in state police to break up a protest by local residents, with two protestors being killed.[9]. His response was met with applause by his supporters, but was met with slogans against his campaign from students who disliked his response.[10]
Video of the event was recorded by various students and uploaded onto social media, but major Mexican television channels and national newspapers reported that the protest were not by students of the university.[11]This angered many of the Ibero-American University students, prompting 131 of them to publish a video on YouTube identifying themselves by their University ID card.[12] The video went viral, and protests spread across various campuses. People showed their support of the 131 students' message by stating, mainly on Twitter, that they were the 132nd student—"I am 132"— thus giving birth to the Yo Soy 132 movement.
Since the beginning of the movement, there have been tactics used, such as marching without being on the street and disrupting traffic, silent marches, concerts, and encouraging political participation in elections.{citation needed} Rallies and marches havehappened in the capitol, Mexico City, and also in various states in Mexico such as Campeche, Durango, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Yucatán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Monterrey, Querétaro, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Estado de México, Puebla, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Baja California y Tabasco[13]
Outside of Mexico, various individuals have created their own groups of solidarity and in support of the movement, in cities such as Munich, Madrid, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, Geneva, Stuttgart, Calgary, Euskadi, Melbourne, New York, Barcelona, Manchester, Quebec, Frankfurt, Zurich, Buenos Aires, Brussels, Vancouver, Montreal, Bologna and Zagreb[14]
On June 5, 2012, students gathered in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the country's largest public university, and agreed that the movement should aspire to go beyond the general election and become a national force.[15]
On August 10, 2012, YoSoy132 International group published a translation of the General Principles [16][17][18]
"We declare our movement as":[19]
The movement successfully demanded that the second Mexican presidential debate be broadcasted nationally. It also proposed a third debate organized by members of the Yo Soy 132 movement that was held without the presence of Enrique Peña Nieto, who rejected the invitation and said it lacked conditions of impartiality.[8][9]
On May 23, 2012, the movement released its manifesto. An excerpt from it states:
"First – we are a nonpartisan movement of citizens. As such, we do not express support of any candidate or political party, but rather respect the plurality and diversity of this movement's participants. Our wishes and demands are centered on the defense of Mexicans' freedom of expression and their right for information, in that these two elements are essential to forming an aware and participating citizenry. For the same reasons, we support informed and well-thought out voting. We believe that under the present political circumstances, abstaining or making a null vote is ineffective in promoting the edification of our democracy. We are a movement committed to the country's democratization, and as such, we hold that a necessary condition for this goal is the democratization of the media. This commitment derives from the current state of the national press, and from the concentration of the media outlets in few hands".
"Second – YoSoy132 is an inclusive movement which does not represent one single university. Its representation depends only on the persons who join this cause and form connections among the university committees".[15]
On June 11, 2012, a group of protesters who named themselves GeneraciónMX claimed they were part of Yo Soy 132 and announced their departure, claiming that they perceived that the movement favored the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution and its candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.[20] Through a YouTube video titled I am no longer 132, its stated goals being democratization of the media, political reform, environmental protection, and calling politicians' attention to the agenda of Mexican youth.[20] Social network users and hacktivist group Anonymous have argued that GeneraciónMX and its members are linked to the PRI.[21][22]
On June 12, 2012, Rodrigo Ocampo, spokesperson of GenerationMX, reiterated in a press conference that #yosoy132 had lost its course and had been hijacked by leftist parties. He denied ties with the PRI party and his current employer COPARMEX, claiming his involvement was done on his free time. He declared that GenerationMX had about 17 members, many of whom had received anonymous threats demanding them to take their YouTube videos off-line and that other members decided not to come forward or comment on the allegations of leftist involvement for fear of further threats.[23]
Yo Soy 132 has been compared to the Arab Spring movement that occurred in the Arab world, as well as the Occupy movement. [24] This is because all three movements have used Social media as a way to communicate and organize, as well as using civil resistance. The Occupy Wall Street movement acknowledged these similarities by writing a post on their website expressing their solidarity with Yo soy 132. [25] The movements also promote a leaderless structure, in which no one person is the leader as well as having multiple demands[26]
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Al término de su discurso, los estudiantes permanecieron aglomerados a las afueras del auditorio en espera de la salida del abanderado del PRI y a gritarle "¡Fuera! ¡Fuera!" y "¡Asesino!"
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Category:2012 in Mexico Category:2012 protests Category:Politics of Mexico Category:Student political organizations Category:Protests in Mexico * Category:Student protests in Mexico