On May 28, 2004, while leaders at the European Union, Latin American and Caribbean Summit discussed economic integration, keeping the peace was the main concern.
Therefore, when news of the rather wordy "Another world is possible against neoliberalism and for sovereignty, peace and self-determination of the peoples" protest was announced for 10 a.m. Sunday morning, many locals feared the worst.
Arriving at 10 a.m. on the dot, music was playing, the standard banners had been made condemning Nafta, globalization, Felipe Calderon and promoting a socialist world. And a 7/11 on the corner had been covered up. The one thing missing was a multitude of people.
Less than 500 people were part of the contingent that slowly made its way from Chapultepec and Vallarta toward the center. Organizers had predicted 2,000. Even the throngs of photographers looked disappointed, having been sent out early Sunday morning to cover a protest that attracted about half the numbers of the demo against the new Macrobus line in late July.
"There may be a new president (in the United States)," commented one middle-aged protester draped in the Mexican flag. "He may also be a little better than the last president, but we still have many problems with the United States and we need to see action on issues like Nafta. We, the poor people, are still suffering."
"The United States uses Nafta to their own advantage," said Martin Mireles, leading some of the anti-government chanting. "They continue subsidizing their farmers and call it free trade. It's hypocritical."
Aside from Nafta, proponents of a greener world were visible and called on the three leaders to make the issue the main priority of the summit.
Explained one protester: "Not destroying the environment is the most important issue because if we continue to destroy the world then everything else is irrelevant."
As the sparse crowd made its way towards the city center, it became clear there would be no repeat of the violent summit of 2004.
"There won't be any violence today," promised Mireles. "We're a peaceful movement."
A more important reason for smaller protest numbers and the tranquil atmosphere may be that with Obama occupying the Oval Office, Mexicans are simply less frustrated with their northern neighbor.
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