The father of a murder victim and a woman, both protesters in a Mexico City march, engaged in a heated argument on Saturday over defacing public property during a protest.
The facade of the National Palace was painted with messages and slogans at the conclusion of a march to mark the sixth anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 students in Guerrero.
A man who said his son was murdered in Acapulco, Guerrero, confronted a woman who had contributed to the painting and told her in no uncertain terms that she and other activists had no right to graffiti the palace, the seat of executive power.
“You can’t scribble on it because it doesn’t belong to you,” he shouted.
The woman retorted that she could indeed deface the building before asking the man whether he cared more about a wall than a life.
“I came to fight for my brothers, for the 43 [students] from Ayotzinapa. … It’s not possible that you do this, … my son was killed. I care about Mexico, I care about my son, I care about the 43 [students] and the thousands of missing people. This [defacing the National Palace] is not the way to fight,” the man said angrily.
“They won’t listen to us this way.”
The female protester said she didn’t care that the National Palace was a historic place, as the man pointed out, and took umbrage at his declaration that he couldn’t respect the women responsible for the graffiti.
“Are you going to disrespect me?” she yelled at him.
Prior to the confrontation, the facade of the National Palace was defaced with messages including “it was the state” – an assertion that the federal government was involved in the students’ abduction and presumed murder – “justice” and “Ayotzinapa lives on.”
The building’s main wooden door was adorned with a large “+43” in red paint.
Earlier on Saturday, close to 1,000 people led by parents of the 43 missing students marched to the zócalo, Mexico City’s central square, to demand justice.
Upon arrival they shouted insults at protesters who are camping out in the zócalo and calling for President López Obrador to resign.
The federal government announced Saturday that warrants have been issued for the arrest of soldiers and police who participated in and/or knew about the abduction of the students in Iguala, Guerrero, on September 26, 2014.
López Obrador pledged that there will be no cover-up or impunity and said that the new arrest warrants were evidence that the case is progressing.
Source: El Universal (sp)
