Enrique Pena Nieto’s Inauguration, Two Very Different Mexicos

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The official broadcast showed smiling legislators from the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI), uniformed in red shawls and red ties, welcoming the triumphant arrival of the president-elect amid cries of “Enrique, Enrique!” It was an almost flawlessly choreographed production, despite occasional cries of protest from the opposition. The presidential mantle was passed from one party to the next, the handsome new president delivered a well-polished speech designed to please all, there was the obligatory visit to address the armed forces. The official version of the inauguration of Mexico’s 57th president seemed to go off with only minor glitches.

That’s pretty much all you could see from your television screen. Some stations showed a few jarring scenes of rioters in the streets being beaten back with tear gas amid the crack of rubber bullets. But they only lasted a few seconds before returning to the comforting pomp and circumstance of the change of powers. Television networks were not allowed to film the inauguration and acceptance speech. Flipping from channel to channel produced the simultaneous repetition of the official signal, with its official selection of shots and official narration.

Enrique Pena Nieto’s inauguration, a city under siege

Social media and the streets themselves told a different story. From the pre-dawn hours, battalions of police barricaded the area blocks away from both the Congress where the official swearing-in took place and the National Palace where the new president would present his first speech. Protestors left for the legislative center at San Lazaro in the pre-dawn hours. Arriving, small groups attacked police lines to gain entrance into the security perimeter surrounding Congress.

The situation heated up quickly. Police responded hurling tear gas canisters and firing rubber bullets, enraging the protestors. Images show young people, mostly men with hoods and masks, attacking police lines with rocks and sticks. Some Molotov’s were reported and bottle rockets. Soon it became an all-out battle, with youth hurling back the gas grenades. Students reported “bombs, pepper gas, tear gas and rubber bullets,” all confirmed by the press.

This is not a common method of reacting to demonstrations in Mexico City. It reflects a decision to crack down hard, regardless of the consequences, particularly within the ranks of the Federal Police. After clashes, some people destroyed lamp posts, vandalized buildings and parts of the expensively remodeled Alameda park and vandalized buildings along Mexico City’s main streets. News stories have reported the presence of paid provocateurs among the vandals.