Friday, July 11, 2025

‘Peace Belt’ will be employed again when there is risk of violence: mayor

The “Peace Belt” of civilian government employees that was deployed during the Tlatelolco protest march on Wednesday served its purpose and may be deployed again in future marches, according to Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.

“We’ll probably do it in a more organized fashion, especially when we have information that there are groups that want to generate violence or aggression,” she said.

She added that the city government will develop a protocol to train civil servants who participate.

The Peace Belt, or cinturón de paz, consisted of 12,000 city employees dressed in white t-shirts who lined the route of the march, which commemorates a 1968 massacre of students in Tlatelolco’s Three Cultures Plaza. Although the Peace Belt outnumbered the roughly 10,000 marchers, they were unable to prevent acts of vandalism by some.

However, Mayor Sheinbaum stressed that the measure was a success because it prevented repression of protesters by the police.

“We’re going to do everything we can not to repress social movements, but at the same time, we need to fulfill the law,” she said.

Sheinbaum also noted that the three masked protesters who were arrested and later released during the march are still under investigation.

“Some organizations that work with the Human Rights Commission say that arrests should be avoided, and to prevent confrontation we release people,” she said. “However, there are investigations open and there will be due process.”

Some government employees criticized the Peace Belt measure for placing them in a situation for which they were not trained.

And former president Felipe Calderón suggested López Obrador put himself at the head of the next Peace Belt.

“Mr. President, the next time you wish to use human beings, risking their lives and safety, to do the work that is your responsibility as head of state but do not do, put yourself at the front. Don’t stay behind the human and metal shields,” he wrote on Twitter.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A small plane flies over the ocean

How the Mexican security minister’s slip of the tongue rankled Salvadoran President Bukele

2
President Bukele took exception after García Harfuch's identified a drug-smuggling plane as coming from El Salvador.
gold bars

Highway robbery near Guadalajara nets 6 million pesos worth of gold and silver

0
Such open-road heists have risen in frequency recently and could pose a threat to potential investors otherwise attracted by nearshoring opportunities.
Security chief Omar García Harfuch, Attorney General Gertz and other Mexian officials sit on a stage in front of a banner reading "National Strategy against Extortion" in spanish

Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime

1
The strategy contemplates new laws that would force states to investigate the crime, even when victims are too afraid to make an official report.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity