A burgeoning middle class makes its voice known
©Scott Sines
Piedras Negras , Mexico– The results of a hotly contested mayoral election were in and they looked rigged. In a close vote an unpopular career politician from the ruling party (PRI) beat the feel-good story of a popular young pediatrician, endorsed by the grass roots, conservative National Action Party (PAN). We learned through contacts at the Mexican American Cultural Center that the PAN-istas were planning a rally in front of city hall to protest the swearing-in on Dec. 31.
Anticipating trouble the authorities on the Mexican side of the border closed the international bridge. How we got around that is a separate story but the PRI expected trouble and muscled up with local police and militia. The PAN-istas sawed branches off trees in the Zocalo for weapons and siphoned gas from cars to fill empty beer bottles for Molotovs. When the candidate left City Hall after the ceremony the protesters pelted him with rocks. They overwhelmed the police, burned the city hall, and briefly held the city until the army was called in and broke it up with tear gas. Casualty estimates ranged from zero according to the government, to 20 according to the protesters.
