I am the 132nd

On May 11, 2012, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visited Ibero-American University in Mexico City as part of his campaign. At the end of the lecture, students were asked a question regarding the 2006 riots in San Salvador Atenco . Being the governor of the city in those years, Peña Nieto called on the Mexican police to disperse the protesters, which resulted in a wave of violence, which resulted in about 30 people being injured and a 13-year-old teenager dying. ^[1] Pena-Nieta ’s response that these were “decisive measures” designed to bring order to the law and the right of the state to use force, and that this decision was approved by the National Supreme Court, ^[2] was accepted by applause side of his supporters and screaming discontent from students. In the reports of most of the national newspapers and television channels that covered the event, it was said that the question and the subsequent reaction to it were not provoked by students, but by representatives of competing parties who specially attended the lecture. In response to this, students, in the amount of 131 people, uploaded a video on YouTube in which they demonstrated their student cards ^[3] . The video instantly became viral , spreading across the campuses of other universities. Users who watched the video expressed their support for the students with the phrase "I am the 132nd," which became the name of the movement. The hashtag # YoSoy132 stayed on the world twitter top list for several days.

The protest tactics consisted of quiet marches and concerts, aimed at encouraging as many people as possible to take part in voting in elections. Similar marches took place in the capital of the country, Mexico City, as well as in the states of Campeche , Durango , Aguascalientes , Zacatecas , Yucatan , Guerrero , Jalisco , Nuevo Leon , Queretaro , Chiapas , Oaxaca , Veracruz , Mexico City , Puebla , Hidalgo , Nintana-Nintana California and Tabasco .

Outside the country, many Mexican students, including those who received government grants to study abroad, expressed solidarity with this movement. Support messages have been received about Mexicans studying in London , Paris , Chicago , Munich , Madrid , Vienna , Rio de Janeiro , Geneva , Stuttgart , New York , Barcelona , Quebec , and many others. The success of the movement, uniting thousands of students under its banner and capable of influencing the election results, aroused serious concern of the authorities ^[4] .

On June 5, 2012, students gathered at the National Autonomous University of Mexico , the country's largest educational institution, came to the conclusion that the movement should not focus only on the presidential election, but become a force on a national scale ^[5] . Basic Principles On June 18, 2012, the I-132nd International Movement Group published a document containing their basic principles, including: non-partisanship, peaceful nature, focus on students as the main catalyst for social change, secularism, pluralism, socio-political character, humanism, autonomy, permanent character and anti-neoliberalism.

The movement announced its success that the second presidential debate was broadcast nationwide by the television companies Television and Aztec TV , which had previously been described as unreliable and unreliable sources of information. Debate took place between presidential candidates Josephine Vazquez Mota , Gabriel Cuadri and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador . Enrique Peña-Nieto refused to participate in the third round of the debate, alleging a violation of the conditions of impartiality ^[6] . The debate was broadcast live using the Google Hangouts platform, and anyone could watch it online. The event was also broadcast on Reactor 105.7, Ibero 90.9 and Radio Ciudadana. Once TV Mexico and 22 television channels broadcast the debate on Sunday June 24th.

Support

The “I - 132nd” movement was called the Mexican “ Arab Spring ”, it was compared with the events of 2011 in the Arab countries and the New York Occupy Wall Street movement ^[7] . All three of these movements relied on popular support and used social media as a means of communication and organization of marches, as well as a way of expressing civil protest. Grab Wall Street recognized these similarities and expressed their support for I-132 on their website ^[8] . In addition, this movement also performs numerous tasks, and it does not have a clear leader.

Counteraction

On June 11, 2012, 4 people who identified themselves as “Generation MX” uploaded a video to YouTube claiming to be an offshoot of the “I'm 132nd” movement and claiming they had to leave because the movement allegedly supported the candidate from left-wing parties Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador . They stated that they pursue the same goals as the “I am 132nd” movement - democratizing the media, political reforms, protecting the environment and drawing politicians' attention to the problems of Mexican youth. In addition to this video against the “I am 132nd” movement, this group was no longer seen in any real political activity. As it turned out later, the people who starred in the video were directly connected with the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party, of which Peña Nieto is a member, and against which the “I am 132nd” movement is opposed.

The so-called Penabots, bots used for propaganda purposes, also opposed the movement in social media.

According to the results of the June 1, 2012 elections, Enrique Peña Nieto won, outstripping his rival progressive candidate Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador by 6.5%. During the election, activists of the movement "I 132nd" recorded mass violations, expressed in buying votes and throwing in ballots, and many other illegal actions. In total, more than 1,100 violations were recorded. ^[9]