About 30 sign-bearing Americans, some from Ajijic, and the same number of reporters converged on a sidewalk near the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City Thursday afternoon.
These U.S. citizens who live in Mexico said they were hoping to present their uniquely informed viewpoint to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly upon their visit to Mexican President Peña Nieto (See story page 2.)
Demonstrators carried American flags and signs they deemed free of “foul language … threats” and “personal attacks.” They also carried smart phones to live stream the event via social media.
“We hoped to meet with Tillerson, but understand that wasn’t feasible,” said one participant.
“We’re here to show we care and to get Tillerson’s attention,” said Ajijic resident Larry Pihl, noting that he left the Chapala area at 5:30 a.m. Thursday to travel to Mexico City.
He said demonstrators were energized by the media interest, noting that about the same number of reporters as demonstrators showed up to cover the event.
“NBC was here, plus a lot of Mexican media, TV and radio. We might be on the nightly news,” Pihl said.
“Some embassy staff came over to make sure everything was okay,” he added.
Some mentioned concern about a Mexican law forbidding foreigners to demonstrate, but emphasized that the law is rarely enforced and is aimed against foreigners criticizing the Mexican government.
“This demonstration was just for U.S. citizens,” Pihl noted, and the idea was to get a message through to Tillerson and Kelly. The demonstrators presented the embassy with a letter for the two U.S. officials (see letter page 14) focusing on President Trump’s insults against Mexicans and his calls for a border wall and derailing NAFTA.