On November 15, 2025, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Mexico City and other cities across the country, marking a significant escalation in public discontent with the nation’s ongoing security crisis.
Organized under the banner of “Generation Z Mexico,” the protests drew participants from various age groups, including older activists from opposition parties and supporters of slain local leaders. These events, centered in Mexico City’s historic Zócalo square outside the National Palace, highlighted deep-seated frustrations with rising violence, systemic corruption, and perceived government leniency toward drug cartels.
While the marches began peacefully, they devolved into clashes with riot police, resulting in over 120 injuries — primarily among officers — and at least 20 arrests.
The protests were sparked by the assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo on November 1, 2025, during a public Day of the Dead event in Michoacán state. Manzo, who had split from President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party in 2024 to pursue an aggressive anti-cartel agenda, was shot dead in front of a large crowd.
His death marked the seventh mayoral assassination in Mexico that year, underscoring the perilous environment for local officials confronting organized crime.
Supporters of Manzo, identifiable by their signature straw hats symbolizing his movement, joined the marches in Michoacán and traveled to the capital, carrying banners reading “We are all Carlos Manzo” and “Carlos did not die, the government killed him.”
The killing amplified broader grievances, as Mexico continues to grapple with over 20,000 cartel-related homicides annually, alongside widespread extortion, kidnapping, and impunity for perpetrators.
Protesters waved Mexican flags alongside symbols from global youth movements, such as the pirate flag from the manga One Piece, signaling solidarity with similar Gen Z-led actions in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh earlier this year.
In Mexico City, chants of “Out, Morena” targeted Sheinbaum’s ruling party, while demands echoed for accountability in the face of systemic failures. Participants, including a 43-year-old physician named Arizbeth Garcia, voiced calls for increased public health funding and enhanced security measures, noting that professionals like doctors face routine threats from criminal groups
Wild footage from Saturday’s demonstrations showed protesters scaling security fences set up outside Mexican government facilities, as well the presidential palace.
Tremenda imagen que muestra la magnitud de la manifestación contra Claudia Sheinbaum en México. pic.twitter.com/rvlTJRU8Hp
— Dani Lerer (@danilerer) November 15, 2025
Anti-Sheinbaum protesters have hopped the wall protecting the National Palace in Mexico City. Mexican police are responding with crowd control munitions. pic.twitter.com/WgdIMi1K1e
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
The protesters’ specific demands included stronger state intervention against cartels, prosecution of corrupt officials, and an end to impunity for violent crimes. They sought judicial reforms to expedite trials for drug lords, greater transparency in government spending on security, and policies addressing root causes like poverty and arms trafficking.
The unrest has fueled pointed criticism of President Sheinbaum’s capacity to confront drug cartels, just over a year into her term. While Sheinbaum has touted an 11 percent increase in cartel-related arrests as evidence of her willingness to combat organized crime, detractors argue that her administration’s efforts fall well short of adequacy.
Opposition leaders have also argued that Sheinbaum has failed to crack down on political allies with ties to drug-trafficking organizations..
Tensions persist over U.S. designations of Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations in February 2025, which Sheinbaum called unhelpful and an infringement on sovereignty, prompting vows of constitutional reforms to bolster protections. Sheinbaum’s criticisms of U.S. foreign policy has led to spats with the Trump Administration at times, though the neighboring countries have also coordinated on anti-cartel operations and seizures of fentanyl precursors.
RELATED: Mexican Senator Praises Trump Over Efforts To Combat Drug Cartels
, 2025-11-16 17:15:00, , Trending Politics Conservative Breaking News and Commentary, %%https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cropped-tp-fav-2-32×32.png, https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/feed/, Cullen McCue
