Even Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who seeks the votes of the SME and their extended family members and has been extremely lenient toward SME's many disruptive demonstrations, condemned the violence.
SME leader Martín Esparza Flores first claimed that the damage was done by people who had "infiltrated" SME, then accepted that the 11 arrested were SME members, yet now demands the release of these 11 claiming they are political prisoners.
Beyond emphasizing that the SME truly has no shame and will do nothing to curb the violence of its members, the false comparison is truly an insult and a disservice to true political prisoners world wide, of which there are thankfully less and less of in Latin America.
A couple of weeks ago, when the national march against violence was held nationwide, it kind of bothered me that the movement led by Sicilia (which has perfectly legitimate aims in my opinion) allowed the SME to join its ranks on the Zocalo just to swell the numbers of the march. The SME is completely tainted to the bone, but many marches continue to allow them to boost the numbers. Any movement that associated with a union that is increasingly profiling itself as a group of thugs loses a lot of its legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteThe left and social movements in Mexico need to find a way to disassociate themselves from the SME, because to powers that be the union is a gift that just keeps giving...