On March 8th something historic will happen in Mexico. Following a three-day trek from the south, thousands will gather in Mexico City to protest a U.S.-supported militarized drug war that has cost nearly 40,000 lives in just four years.
Young people from across the country will be there, because they are frequent targets of the violence and because they’re responsible for building a livable future. Indigenous peoples, labor, human rights defenders, feminists against femicide, artists and writers—all will march under the slogan of NO+BLOOD! to end the violence that has been unleashed by a drug war with no strategy, no end in sight and at a huge cost to freedom and public security.
The turning of the tide in public opinion against the drug war has been a long time coming. In 2007, when President George W. Bush announced Plan Mexico, officially called “the Merida Initiative”, we published a report on the plan and warned that the strategy would backfire, leading to militarization and an increase, rather than decrease, in violence. It’s terrible to see how that prediction has been born out.
Not long ago, fear and the lie that there are no other options had many people convinced that a war on drugs was necessary. Now Mexicans will march because they believe the government’s drug war threatens peace and democracy. In Mexico, the United States and other countries, protesters will call on the Mexican and U.S. governments to end the militarization of Mexico and immediately change strategies.
The Americas Program will be covering the march all four days, May 5-8, from Cuernavaca to Mexico City. Our contributors will be sending their accounts of actions in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, New York, Texas, California and other places.
Follow the live blog on the Americas MexicoBlog, (www.americasmexico.blogspot.com) and check out updates on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cipamericas) and in-depth analysis at cipamericas.org.