The Difference Between Mexican & USA Protests

I live in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. It is one of the safest cities in the country. While I’ve had to work my ass off to get from homeless teen to CEO, I understand why some people are resentful and want to label me as “entitled”. I have a beautiful view of the city from my penthouse perched atop a new, modern white building with 24/7 security and fingerprint access, just to get to our floor. I’m literally living in an “ivory tower”.

But I see the headlines. I follow the updates. My friends and I don’t feel the fear the way people do in Mexico City, Jalisco, or Michoacán. But we’re aware of the situation and how fortunate we are. And we do care. It’s like people in Beverly Hills watching in horror as ICE maces children, beats 79 year-old US citizens until they’re hospitalized and abducts and imprisons US citizens who happen to be Latino. We genuinely care, but from afar and without knowing what we personally could possibly do to help.

The story behind the November protests is much more complex than US media tells. Mexico has been dealing with cartel and narco-violence for decades. Before Lopez-Obrador or Sheinbaum took office, the violence was worse and much more brazen. It was out in the open.

Security analysts agree that overall violence is down but this is a decades old, layers deep, multigenerational battle. So while every Mexican politician since the 1970’s has promised to do something about the cartel problem, no one was going to be able to make it disappear in one term or even two.

Still, perception drives public anger – especially when it can draw a straight line toward a problem. And when you know exactly what and who to blame, it’s easy to get VERY angry – which anyone turning on the tv can see is now the case in Mexico.

The turning point was the assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manz. Much to the irritation of Sheinbaum, he spoke openly and repeatedly about how she should be taking a stronger stance against the cartels and narco-crime. About the actions she should be taking to protect the citizenry. His killing became a flashpoint that ignited the conflagration of protests you now see.

As is so often the case, rebellion began with young people. But Gen Z marchers were quickly joined by Mexican Boomers and then, everyone else. Thousands filled the streets of Mexico City, pushed through barricades at the National Palace, and clashed with riot police. More than 120 people were injured. The message was clear: Slow progress was not enough. Massive and decisive action is being called for.

And here is where the contrast with the United States becomes stark.

In Mexico, the public outrage has a specific target. The overwhelming majority of large-scale violence comes from a clearly identifiable source: cartels. People can point directly to who the “bad guys” are.

In the United States, it’s not that clear. Everyone knows that organized crime exists, but it operates under the radar. But organized crime isn’t anywhere near the only or even majority of the gun-violence problem in the USA.

In addition to the mob, daily bloodshed comes from the gangs that control the poverty-stricken sections of every city. They’re so pervasive, they’re just taken for granted.

On top of that, is the uniquely American epidemic of mass murders, committed weekly and sometimes daily by ordinary “Everyman” types, who legally purchased assault rifles (outside the USA, any weapon whose original utility patent was for military assault, is called an “assault rifle” – go figure). They take these weapons of mass murder and unleash high-velocity rounds which unlike other weapons, won’t go through the body like a pistol bullet but instead, shred internal organs and can cause a mere shoulder or side-abdomen wound to be fatal. And they slaughter men, women and little American children in schools, churches, malls, concerts and workplaces.

Thus, there is no central villain. No single organization. No shared target of outrage.

The anger disperses into endless cultural and political crossfire. Chants like “Don’t blame the guns!”, “It’s about mental health” and “Don’t make this political” ensure that nothing will ever be done to fix the massive gun violence problem in the USA. The latest mass murder in the USA was all of two days ago, wherein the victims included a 10-year-old boy. But there will be no protests about that.

At the same time, Americans have spent not just one week, but months protesting something far broader and more existential: the dismantling of constitutional rights. While Mexicans are protesting a crime problem, Trump’s actions have triggered the largest demonstrations in the history of the USA, not only domestically but around the world. Millions have marched against overt violations of the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments and the dismantling of constitutional norms themselves.

Mexico’s protests are about cartel violence. America’s protests are about institutional collapse. Both nations are angry. But for very different reasons.

The Sheinbaum administration insists its approach is working and emphasizes the progress already made. She is saying that these protests are in part politically motivated. That’s a mistake. She sounds like Trump saying that years-old emails stating “He knows about the girls” were somehow created by Democrats who traveled back in time before he was elected, to sabotage his career. Zero credibility. Until now, Sheinbaum has enjoyed the highest approval rating of any world leader (70%). The protestors have a legitimate point and instead of blame-shifting, she should be strategizing. Otherwise, you’ll see that approval rating plummet faster than the profitability of a soybean farm in Louisiana.

While people in the USA protest Trump putting his own military (ICE) in the streets and abducting, abusing and imprisoning legal residents and citizens, Mexicans want more National Guard presence because their purpose is to actually protect the citizenry.

Protests in Mexico City is not a sign of collapse – protest in the USA are.

This is not a simple story. It is a complex one, defined by billions in narco-capitalism, political identity, and the stark difference between a country fighting a named enemy and a country fighting both internal violence and the erosion of its own constitutional foundation.