Mexico protest highlights deeper divisions

The weekend march dramatizes political splits, catching the eye of President Trump.

- BY PATRICK J. McDONNELL AND KATE LINTHICUM

THE MOSTLY peaceful protest on Saturday later wound down into several hours of clashes in Mexico City.

(GERARDO VIEyRA NurPhoto)

A weekend protest march convened to highlight the concerns of Mexico’s Generation Z has instead dramatized deep political divisions extending well beyond the needs of young Mexicans.

The mostly peaceful demonstration in downtown Mexico City on Saturday culminated in several hours of clashes when small groups of protesters battled with phalanxes of riot police deployed to protect the National Palace in Mexico City’s central square, or Zócalo.

In the aftermath of the protests, Mexico’s leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum accused right-wing opponents of hijacking the demonstration to provoke unrest and smear her government.

"A march that was supposedly called against violence utilized violence," Sheinbaum told reporters Monday.

But opposition leaders and other critics said the march reflected deep concern about alleged cartel infiltration in the government and charged that police brutalized young protesters.

Among those who noticed the chaotic scenes from Mexico was President Trump, who, in Oval Office comments to the press on Monday, again raised the provocative specter of U.S. strikes on cartel targets in Mexico. The country is a major production site for fentanyl, amphetamines and other synthetic drugs bound for the U.S. market, and a transport corridor for South American cocaine.

"I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There's some big problems there," Trump said. "Let me just put it this way: I am not happy with Mexico."