Thousands of people marched across Mexico on Saturday in nationwide protests against crime, corruption and impunity.
The demonstrations were initiated by a group calling itself Generation Z Mexico but drew participants from multiple age groups, including supporters of slain Michoacan mayor Carlos Manzo, who was shot dead at a public event earlier this month.
In Mexico City, tensions escalated near the National Palace, where President Claudia Sheinbaum lives.
A small group of hooded protesters dismantled protective fencing, prompting riot police to deploy tear gas. According to officials, one hundred police officers were injured, with forty requiring hospital treatment. Twenty civilians were also injured. Authorities said twenty people were arrested while another twenty were cited for administrative offences.
Mexican outlet El Universal reported that security forces hurled stones and used shields against young demonstrators near the Zocalo. Doctors who had joined the march treated injured protesters before police dispersed the crowd.
The organisers described the movement as non partisan and focused on confronting violence, abuse of power and systemic corruption. However, the protests became a political battleground.
Influencers who had initially encouraged the marches withdrew their support, while former president Vicente Fox and billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego publicly endorsed them. President Sheinbaum accused right wing groups of attempting to infiltrate the movement and of using social media bots to inflate turnout.
Similar youth led protests have emerged this year in countries such as Nepal and Madagascar, driven by anger over inequality, poor governance and failures in public services.
In Mexico City, many marchers expressed frustration with the country’s entrenched security crisis. A business consultant in his twenties said the state needed to guarantee basic safety. A physician said she joined the march because health workers faced the same insecurity as the rest of the public.
Manzo’s killing has intensified scrutiny of the government’s approach to crime. His supporters travelled from Michoacan to join the protests, saying they feared a state unable to protect citizens or those who confront criminal groups.
