More Than 100,000 March To Protest Drug War Violence

Thousands in Mexico march to protest the violence associated with the government escalated drug war. According to the Dallas Morning News August 31, 2008 article,("Protesters Demand That Authorities Stop Killings") "Throngs of frustrated people across Mexico, many carrying pictures of kidnapped loved ones, marched Saturday evening to demand that authorities act to stop the tide of killings, abductions and shootouts. The mass protests were a challenge to the government of President Felipe Calderon, who has made fighting crime a top priority and deployed more than 25,000 soldiers and federal police against powerful drug cartels."

The article states, "A sea of white-clad demonstrators carrying candles filled the 2.5-mile route between Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument and the main Zocalo square. City officials refused to give a crowd estimate, but the Zocalo can hold nearly 100,000 people. Tens of thousands overflowed into the surrounding streets, unable to squeeze into the square. Thousands more marched in other cities across the country."

The article adds, "Despite the arrest of several drug kingpins, little has improved since the Calderon government began its crackdown. Homicides have surged as drug cartels battle each other for control of trafficking routes and attack police nearly each day. In the gang-plagued border state of Chihuahua alone, there have been more than 800 killings this year, double the number during the same period last year. Last week, a dozen headless bodies were found in the Yucatan Peninsula, home to Mexico's most popular beach resort, Cancun."