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LETTER FROM MEXICO CITY
The naked truth behind protest
Villager movement vents more than its anger, writes the Tribune's Oscar Avila
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Oscar Avila is a Tribune foreign correspondent based in Mexico City. oavila@tribune.com
June 3, 2007
MEXICO CITY -- As hundreds of naked and almost-naked protesters descend on one of Mexico City's busiest intersections, the first impulse is to avert your eyes. But they are screaming and beating large oil drums. So you turn and look.
They want you to look.
The members of the "400 Villages" movement aren't ashamed. They are proud that they are fighting, 15 years after they say corrupt state authorities took away their people's land in Veracruz state.
They are following the tradition of a city where people take to the streets to get results. One day, thousands of teachers with bullhorns and placards might flood the avenues. The next, it might be indigenous residents or liberal activists angry over pension reform.
In this environment, the Veracruz protesters said they felt like their voices were being drowned out. Since they started protesting, they had tried blockades, pickets, hunger strikes and marches. Then one day, five years ago, their frustration took over.
Nereo Cruz, a member of the group's governing council, said protesters started taking their clothes off, down to their underwear. They liked the metaphor: a community stripped of justice. The stunt got them in the papers and on the news.
"We realized we had gotten their attention," said Cruz, 52. "The only thing we can't do now is stop protesting. If we stop, they will win."
Cruz said the group got its name from a coalition of 400 villages that fought for farmers' rights decades ago. Their complaints come from the seizure of about 2,000 acres from about 14 villages, a dispute that started under former Gov. Dante Delgado.
Delgado is now a federal senator, and he unwittingly takes center stage at the group's protests. Most of the men wear a thong with a strategically-placed photo of Delgado on the front.
Other male protesters march in unflattering and ill-fitting briefs, and all the men generally have at least a few stitches of clothing. Most of the women -- only a dozen or so -- march naked.
Every year, the 500 or so protesters come to Mexico City for a few months before returning to Veracruz, along the Caribbean coast. They sleep under tattered tarps at an abandoned parking lot, subsisting on donations from residents.
Their goal is the return of their land, or at least to be properly compensated. They are also calling on Mexican lawmakers to establish an investigative commission to look into the matter and decide whether they deserve restitution.
Group leaders say Delgado and another senator promised to establish the commission but have ignored demands to follow up. The protesters have placed a banner that reads "The Senate doesn't see us, doesn't hear us."
The two lawmakers did not respond to several requests for comment.
But the protesters don't lack feedback from the people of Mexico City.
Tourists hoot, whistle and snap pictures from the top of a double-decker bus that cruises the capital's streets. Some motorists flash thumbs-up signs. Many laugh, point or shake their heads.
"Here is the beautiful of Mexico," protester Judith Romero, 40, mused as she scanned a thoroughfare lined with trees and sculptures. "Here we are, the ugly of Mexico."
As he stood on a narrow median along Paseo de la Reforma, the city's equivalent to the Champs Elysees in Paris, Miguel Aguilar recalled how terrified he was when he first took his clothes off five years ago. On this day, the 67-year-old man looked totally at ease in his Delgado thong, black work shoes and a denim baseball cap.
Aguilar proudly pointed to his leathery skin, proof of the countless days spent without clothes under Mexico City's sun. The city's prosperous residents are the ones who heckle, he said, while "the ones who have also suffered, they understand."
He has no plans to stop. "With clothes, no one paid attention. Without clothes, maybe they will," Aguilar said.
Across the street, a housewife was waiting to board a bus and trying her best to keep Aguilar and his comrades out of sight. Lorena Perez, 29, said she regularly takes this route home and often comes across the 400 Villages group in the flesh. She doesn't know why the group is protesting and doesn't seem to care.
"How reckless," Perez said, half grimacing. "It's a lack of respect. As an adult, you can comprehend it, but, for children, it looks bad. There are other ways to protest."
Romero has heard these complaints before. A resident approached her once and called her "a gross old woman." But Romero said her own four children support her activism, and are proud that she has gone "from a housewife to a warrior."
The most common complaint Romero receives is from fellow mothers who don't want their children seeing naked people on busy city streets. But she would tell those families that they shouldn't view her nudity as something shameful.
She wants them to look.
"I am not ashamed. On the contrary, ours is a dignified struggle," Romero said. "The parents shouldn't see this as something obscene. Instead of judging us, they should tell their children, 'Look at them, look how far those women have to go for justice.' "
I stumbled upon this protest against the re-election of President Joseph Kabila in Trafalgar Square, December 10. Police were clearing the area of protesters blocking the roads around the square.
Black Lives Matter protestors and public artworks around the Statehouse & Capitol Square - downtown Columbus,OH.
Bewoners van de Rotterdamse wijk Overschie hangen dinsdag vuile lakens op voor het gebouw van de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag. Ze protesteren daarmee tegen de snelheidsverhoging op de A13, waardoor de lucht in hun wijk een stuk viezer is geworden. Ook zullen ze 3000 handtekeningen aanbieden om hun protest kracht bij te zetten.
Always enjoy shooting a protest, even on vacation. From what I can tell this protest pertained to immigration-related legislation being considered in the Alþingi, Iceland's parliament.
Protests took place in Rochdale on Saturday 22 July 2017.
The Force worked to ensure the events took place safely and ensuring the right to protest while minimising any disruption to the local community.
Chief Superintendent Neil Evans, Borough Commander, said: “This has been a challenging day with hundreds of people attending Rochdale town centre for the protest.
“I understand that these events are very emotive and that tensions may run high when there are polarised views and counter-protests.
“However, we have worked jointly with Rochdale Council and the community to ensure the most effective way to facilitate and manage this protest in a balanced and safe manner.
“This has very much been a community focused operation aimed at reducing the impact of the protest on the normal lives of people in Rochdale.
“I would like also like to thank members of the community who have acted as mediators and helped the smooth running of today’s event.
“In order to ensure we could deliver a safe operation we deployed large numbers of police which meant another busy weekend for officers, who have worked long hours in challenging circumstances to look after our communities.
“It was pleasing to see that this protest did not stop the people of Rochdale from going about their normal activities.”
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit www.gmp.police.uk
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Ikoflex Ic
(1956-59)
Zeiss Tessar 75mm f3.5
Ektar 100
A small sidewalk protest in Bryant Park, Lake Worth.
There is a small group of people who are protesting the State of Texas removing 400-something kids from the FLDS polygamist compound. They are in front of the Delta Center where the Utah Jazz are playing the Houston Rockets in the NBA Playoffs. Rockets-> Houston-> Texas-> CPS removing children from homes. So the protest is a bit removed from the intended target. It was still fun to watch them.
Turkey has some very strict laws against criticizing the government. I don't know what this protest was about, but I was a little surprised to see anything like this allowed on the streets at all.
A bit of journalism about journalism (the rights and freedom thereof)... Stumbled upon this street protest in Berlin on a recent trip, and thought BW might fit the 'reportage' nature of the shot/
Massive protests in the city today against the new Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. He got in with a promise of 'Can Do' but it turns out what he can do, has done, is slash about 15.000 jobs so far in the public service, mainly from the Health Department, nursing, doctors and ambulance staff, Disability and community services, Education, Firefighting. And so on. There is a lot of anger in the community, understandably. Typical action for a Liberal party politician I think. (yes, the $20 sticker on this man's t-shirt indicates that he is selling the shirts too! )
On Saturday November 4 thousands of people joined an emergency protest and marched through the streets of Melbourne in solidarity with refugees on Manus Island. The protest ended with an occupation of the Flinders Street Station intersection in the middle of the city.
A protestor hides behind a barricade during Anti extradition protests in Hong Kong, 2019. Shot on a Mamiya C330F
January 26, 2017 - From Rittenhouse Square to Loews Hotel where the GOP Retreat was. Around Center City Philadelphia. Peaceful, but forceful. Power To The People
A protester for the building of a Mosque and against racism in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Recently far left and far right groups have been at odds over the building of a Mosque in the town.
A man looks on as protesters take part in an anti-Mubarak protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo February 1, 2011. At least one million Egyptians took to the streets on Tuesday in scenes never before seen in the Arab nation's modern history, roaring in unison for President Hosni Mubarak and his new government to quit. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
The Scottish independence referendum takes place on 18 September 2014.
Voters will answer the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country"
People from Thasgam, a village near Kargil blocked the national highway NH-1D on 26th June, in response to a hit-and-run accident that happened a week ago. A military convoy had hit a 50 year old woman and fled.
The highway was blocked for more than 5 hours. Local police didn't have any luck and even the requests from few army men around were in vain. Finally, an army supervisor visited the scene and took 2 days time to investigate on the convoy and the driver.