On the 15th (local time), large-scale anti-government rallies led by Generation Z (born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s) were held in more than 50 major cities, including the capital Mexico City. The protesters condemned the case of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manso, who died after being hit by seven bullets during the Nov. 2 "Day of the Dead" event, and demanded strong relief measures from the Mexican government to resolve drug cartel gangs and corruption.
However, on the same day the Mexican government drew a line by releasing a special investigative report titled "Infodemia," calling the rallies "organized agitation." As Mexico's chronic problems of violence and corruption erupted again with the assassination of Mayor Manso, the progressive Mexican government and the conservative opposition are waging a complex war of public opinion over whether the rallies are "genuine anger" or "planned protests."
According to major local outlets including El Universal and El País on the 16th, the protests that began on the 14th led by Gen Z youths intensified from the 15th, and as of the 16th, 20 people had been arrested and about 120 people, including more than 100 police officers, were injured.
Mayor Manso, who became the fuse for the rallies, is the seventh sitting mayor to be killed in Mexico this year. In life, he called for iron-fisted rule against Mexican cartels. He personally wore a bulletproof vest and, in a white cowboy hat, went on patrol with police. He took a hard line against violence and corruption, to the point of offering rewards to police who shot cartel members. In an interview, he recounted the ordeal of past mayors of Mexican local cities who were victimized by criminal organizations and said he "did not want to die," but in the end he could not escape the bullets.
At the rallies that day, protesters likened the slain Mayor Manso to President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, who succeeded in eradicating gangs, and called him the "Mexican Bukele." By contrast, they criticized current President Claudia Sheinbaum's "security through inclusion" strategy as "flawed and ineffective." Sheinbaum has said that hard-line crackdowns like the past attempts at a "war on drugs" triggered the current violence, and she maintains a social approach known as "hugs instead of bullets."
AP, citing protesters on the ground, said, "Protesters marched for the public health system budget and safety," and "Protesters shouted, 'Mayor Manso was killed because he was brave. Mexico is dying.'"
The Sheinbaum administration in Mexico analyzed that the rallies were not a pure civic movement to honor Mayor Manso, but a 90 million-peso (about 7 billion won) "digital strategy campaign" linked to the opposition, the business community, and even overseas forces.
Those named in the government's special report as being behind the rallies are Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego and the U.S.-based conservative group "Atlas Network." Pliego is one of Mexico's leading media tycoons and the owner of "Televisa." The Atlas Network is an association of nonprofit organizations that promote global conservative liberalism, small government, and a market-centered economy.
The Mexican government claimed they manipulated public opinion by mobilizing 200 on TikTok and more than 360 on Facebook groups. According to the Infodemia report, 50 of these TikTok accounts were created in October–November just before the rallies. They also used artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fake images of the Mexican presidential palace on fire and used bots (automated accounts) to disseminate campaign themes.
According to the government's analysis, the theme of the rallies until early this month was "termination of the presidential term." However, the organizers revised the slogan to "public security anxiety" after the Nov. 2 assassination of Mayor Carlos Manso.
As the government claimed, the protest scenes captured by local media were far from the leading group called "Gen Z." El País, the most influential Spanish-language daily, said of the Mexico City rally, which the city government estimated drew about 17,000 people, "There were few young attendees for a Gen Z rally, and most were in their 30s or older." The progressive Mexican outlet La Jornada said, "Strangely, a Gen Z rally with many elderly people," adding, "Gen Z was outnumbered by their parents', grandparents', and uncles' generations."
On site, the pirate flag from the Japanese animation "One Piece," which has come to symbolize recent Gen Z protest scenes worldwide, fluttered. At the same time, the Mexican flag, an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe symbolizing Catholic culture, and even a Hispanic nationalist flag reminiscent of Spain's Franco dictatorship appeared.
The shape of the rallies also varied greatly by region. In large cities such as the capital Mexico City and the second city Guadalajara, protesters mounted intense and bloody demonstrations. In contrast, in regions such as San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, where cartel influence is strong, only eight people gathered for the rally and the event was canceled. Local media said the share of youths was extremely low in Campeche and Querétaro as well.
The opposition dismissed the government's claim of "planned protests" and countered that it was "repression of citizens." Jorge Romero, leader of the conservative opposition National Action Party (PAN), told El Universal, "The government used violence and gas against young people instead of dialogue," criticizing that "the government fears an awakened generation." Salinas Pliego, the billionaire the government named as being behind the rallies, retorted on social media, "Show even a single piece of evidence."
The New York Times (NYT), citing experts, analyzed that "Mexican President Sheinbaum still has high approval ratings, but the rallies showed Mexicans expressed broad discontent." Whether the rallies were planned or caused by real anger, it means it is clear that discontent over public safety and livelihoods has reached a tipping point at the grassroots of Mexican society. One protester told El País, "Protesters are not robots; we exist," adding, "If the billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, whom the government named as being behind the rallies, runs for president, we will support him."