Mexico City and Guadalajara were among the Mexican cities where “No Kings” protests against the policies and actions of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration took place on Saturday.
The Mexican “No Kings” protests — which also took place in a number of other cities including Mérida, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, Mexicali and San Miguel de Allende — coincided with “No Kings” protests held across cities and towns in the United States.
They were held to “reject authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics and the militarization of the … [United States’] democracy,” the Associated Press reported, citing a statement by protest organizers.
The protests took place the same day that the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade was held in Washington, D.C. They occurred after a week of intense protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles and an accusation from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that President Claudia Sheinbaum had encouraged “violent” demonstrations in the city.
Saturday also happened to be Trump’s 79th birthday.
In Mexico City, hundreds of people, including both U.S. and Mexican citizens, marched from the Luis Cabrera plaza in the Roma neighborhood to the U.S. Embassy, located on the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard.
“Fuera racismo, fuera Trump” (Out with racism, out with Trump) was one of the “most-heard slogans” during the march, the newspaper Diario de México reported.
Among the placards held up by protesters were ones that read: “I like my ICE crushed” and “NO FAUX-KING WEY.”
ICE refers to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is carrying out raids targeting undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
The “no faux-king wey” message is a play on words that includes the Mexican slang word güey (also spelled wey).
The news website Expansión reported that people affiliated with Democrats Abroad were among the protesters in Mexico City. One of the messages they conveyed was that “to migrate is a right, not a crime.”
“No one is illegal on stolen land,” said members of the Revolutionary Union of Art Workers, according to Expansión.
One protester associated with the Juventud Anticapitalista (Anti-Capitalist Youth) collective asserted that Trump’s policies “seek to create an internal enemy with the aim of strengthening his government.”
In Guadalajara, U.S. citizens and Mexicans gathered outside the U.S. Consulate to protest against the Trump administration.
One protester held up a placard that read: “No kings! Stop the fascist! Salva la democracia [Save democracy].”
Another protester in the Jalisco capital, Mercedes Dueñas, told the newspaper Milenio that “the people are against President Trump, who thinks he is a king.”
“We came to the American Consulate to show people that we don’t agree, that we’re in a constitutional crisis in the United States, that we love Mexico and are very ashamed of the way he treats Mexico,” she said.
Another protester in Guadalajara said that Trump’s military parade “for his birthday” was like “something from North Korea” or Russia.
In Puerto Vallarta, where hundreds of protesters gathered on Isla Cuale, a U.S. citizen identified only as Benjamin told the newspaper La Jornada that the purpose of the protest was to “say no” to Trump.
“He wants to install a dictatorship. We’re here to protect democracy and to say that we won’t accept him ruining the United States,” said Benjamin, who has lived in Puerto Vallarta for 22 years, according to La Jornada.
He said that Americans who live in Puerto Vallarta are watching events in the United States very closely.
“People think we’re just here to drink and relax, but we’re paying attention and we don’t accept what’s happening in the United States,” said Benjamin, who highlighted the importance of immigrants to the U.S. economy and described immigration raids as “stupid.”
“Racism in the United States is bad and getting worse,” he said.
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In San Miguel de Allende, more than 200 people, including U.S. citizens and other foreigners, joined a “No Kings” protest outside the U.S. Consular Agency, according to the AM newspaper.
In a video filmed and posted online by AM, protesters can be heard chanting, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, oligarchy’s got to go.”
Lucina Kathman, a U.S.-born writer and activist who has lived in San Miguel de Allende for decades, described Trump as a “dictator” in remarks to AM.
“What a sad country the United States is, with a man who thinks he’s a leader but is nothing more than a dictator,” she said.
“I was born there but I chose Mexico for its warmth. Today, more than ever before, I reaffirm that decision,” Kathman said.
Karol Smith, who also attended the protest in San Miguel de Allende, told AM that, “we are happy to be far away from the United States today.”
Trump “should learn from President Sheinbaum,” she added.
An unnamed Mexican-American man who attended the protest in San Miguel de Allende with members of his family told AM:
“We are here because we believe in justice, because we love this country that has taken us in, and because we will not stand by idly watching human rights being trampled on.”
With reports from Diario de México, Expansión, Milenio, La Jornada and AM
