Thousands of Mexicans took to the streets on Sunday (February 12) to protest against United States President Donald Trump, saying the new American leader is a menace to both the countries.
The protesters were seen raising Mexican flags and carrying anti-Trump placards written both in English and Spanish, saying “Mexico must be respected” and hitting out at the US President’s hateful rhetorics against the Mexicans and his promise to make the country pay for the controversial border wall.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order directing the beginning of construction of a proposed wall along the borders of Mexico and the United States. The American leader has also said on several occasions that the Mexican country will pay for the controversial wall, which he claims will keep the illegal immigrants out. Mexico, however, has opposed Trump’s claims saying the country will do no such thing.
The protesters also heaped scorn on their own president Enrique Pena Nieto, calling him a weak leader who has presided over rampant corruption and violence in the country, the Reuters reported. Trump and Nieto are engaged in an ongoing scuffle in which the Mexican president had cancelled his visit to meet Trump after the White House suggested proposals of taxing Mexican imports to pay for the border wall.
The protesters on Sunday marched down the capital’s main avenue in the Mexico City under the supervision of thousands of police personnel. The demonstration is turning out to be the country’s biggest anti-Trump rally yet and has been joined by some 20 other cities in the country. The protest against Trump has been backed by various business associations, universities and civic organisations.
“We’re here to make Trump see and feel that an entire country, united, is rising up against him and his xenophobic, discriminatory and fascist stupidity,” said Rosas, a literature student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico was quoted as saying by AFP. Rosas was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Trump sporting an Adolph Hitler moustache to make a statement.
Relations between Mexico and the US have reached the nadir in decades ever since Trump was elected as the president last November. The US president has often referred to Mexican immigrants as “criminals” and “rapists” who should be kept on the other side of his proposed wall.
