The crimson dye tinging the water was the work of activists angry that no one has ever been held responsible for the deadly catastrophe.
The protesters want federal, state and municipal authorities to reveal exactly what happened on April 22, 1992, admit the real death toll (believed to be far higher than the official figure of 210), fully compensate all of the victims and punish those to blame for the disaster.
To draw attention to their demands, the activists colored the water of fountains in the Plaza Liberacion and Avenida Chapultepec, as well as in the “Estela Contra El Olvido” monument built eight years ago in the Analco neighborhood to honor the victims.
Other commemorative activities included a march along the route of the explosions, organized by the Asociacion 22 de Abril en Guadalajara, with the aid of planners from the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO), and the unveiling of giant murals painted on the streets hit by the blasts.
Two Mass services were held in rememberance of the victims and floral bouquets were left beside the aforementioned monument. A minute’s silence was also held before a memorial plaque was unveiled next to the monument.
Enrique Alfaro Ramirez, the leftist Citizen’s Movement candidate for governor of Jalisco, placed an offering beside the memorial, while wreaths were also sent by Raul Padilla, the former rector of the University of Guadalajara; and Alfredo Barba, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate for mayor of Tlaquepaque.
Representatives of the right-wing National Action Party (PAN) were conspicuous by their absence. One of the marchers carried a banner addressed to Governor Emilio Gonzalez of the PAN that read, “The governor promised to help and so far has failed … Has he forgotten that he won thanks to our support? It is better not to promise, it is best to act.”
Head of the 22 de Abril association Lilia Ruiz Chavez also reserved choice words for the governor: “We are outraged, yes, because nobody has held Pemex responsible, because in 20 years justice has not been done, because the governor lied to the public, saying that he has now fulfilled the eleven points of his commitment.”
The latter comment was a reference to a statement signed by Gonzalez ahead of the 2006 state elections, promising to comply with 11 demands made by the victims of the gas explosions.
“Maybe what we have pursued these 20 years is a utopian dream but we have not resigned ourselves to the absence of justice. We could have been thrown into a corner of depression, apathy and helplessness, but we decided to fight so that what happened is never forgotten,” added Ruiz.