TIJUANA The movement that started as Occupy Wall Street extended to other countries on Saturday. In Mexico, nearly 100 people occupied a green space in the heart of Tijuana's financial district.
Starting at 2 p.m., groups of young people began to put up signs with messages such as, "Our individual dreams must be collective dreams," "Stop the militarization! Oust Calderón , killer!,"
"No + femenicidios" or "No more femicide," a reference to the serial killing of women that has plagued Ciudad Juárez.
Other participants began to distribute fliers to motorists traveling through avenida Paseo de los Héroes in the Río zone as a young man with a megaphone read a statement from "Occupy Tijuana . We are the 99%," an echo of the message demonstrators in dozens of U.S. cities have repeated, including San Diego. On Saturday, that message was spread to cities in Canada, Japan and Europe.
"The goal is for people in cities across the world who are fed up with the situation in their country, or who want to support this movement, to turn out to the streets and be indignant, to occupy public spaces with a common message: We will no longer put up with the abuses of the financial oligarchy;
politicians are our employees and we demand that they work for us, not vice versa," the young man read.
However, there were few "indignados," and some of those on hand acknowledged that they were disorganized.
In fact, there was a moment when a caravan of Xolos soccer fans cheering for their team, which was to
play a game nearby, crossed paths with the young demonstrators who took turns expressing a variety of views through the megaphone.
"I came here because I'm indignant about so much misery, so much poverty in Mexico; I'm indignant that so many rich people are getting richer and poor people are poorer every day," said musician Alex Zúñiga, a promoter and former member of the band Tijuana NO.
He said he was disappointed that the movement in this city had not attracted more people, despite the economic situation most residents were facing, and that people cared more about getting an emerging TV star's autograph than demonstrating.
For their part, students Kevin Peraza, Jesús González and Daniel Vivar, all 18 and members of the Federation of Baja California Students, said they were very concerned about the combined effects they were feeling every day of unemployment,
crime and lack of opportunities to attend college.
During their turn on the megaphone, some participants called for respecting human rights, demanded an end of the violence across the country; or called for marijuana to be legalized.
Organizers promised that they would continue but a few participants began to leave the traffic island that they had occupied around 5 p.m., saying they had other commitments.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
