Photo by Edgar Blancas and used under a Creative Commons license

Thousands of Mexicans in attendance for the march in Mexico City protested against the government's inability to halt kidnappings and violence against citizens. Similar marches were held in other cities around the country. Already some citizen's media videos have already been posted. Now, bloggers from the capital and in other cities across the country provide their reflections and reactions to the march. However, many do not see that much will change without other actions by civil society.

El Nahual of Mexico Para Los Mexicanos [es] is one that doesn't think that the march will make an immediate difference, but what is needed is a continued effort by all:

La marcha por si misma no resuelve las cosas y sólo es una señal de presión hacia el gobierno, pero esta presión social hacia el gobierno si es de sólo un día no funciona, debe de ser continua y a todos los niveles para que funcione. Salir, vestirse de blanco y encender una velita en la noche, es muy loable, pero no suficiente. Se necesita que todo el tiempo y continuamente le exijamos al gobierno, en todos sus niveles y expresiones, que realice su trabajo y que lo haga bien; y que nosotros cumplamos las leyes y señalemos a quienes no lo hacen. Se necesita que despierte la sociedad civil.

Ana, a commenter on the blog Ocho Cuartos [es] responded to the question whether readers attended the march:

Yo quería marchar no pq creyera en la marcha (dejé de creer en las marchas y los efectos “cambia la realidad y el gobierno ya” desde los tiempos del olvidado mosh y todo ese dismother que armó alla abajo en el df) sino pq creo en méxico y quería manifestar esa opinion.

Lei los periodicos y me senti confundida. Muchos marcharon por convicción, pero otros marcharon pq el amigo, la novia, etc estaban ahi -en otras palabras por evento social-.

JC Cortés of Cargamento [es] is extremely cynical about the value of such a march and thinks that it will take years before things change, when this generation of criminals disappears:

En este país, la protesta causa molestia… ¿no es ese el comportamiento habitual del mexicano frente a una manifestación?… ¿no son unos nacos los que se manifiestan?… ha habido infinidad de marchas y nunca sirvieron de nada.

Las hubo para exigir justicia, para evidenciar corrupción, para acusar fraudes electorales, para mejorar el ambiente social. Ninguna sirvió, esta no será la excepción

Carlos Garduño of Vivir México [es] is another that felt that the march did not accomplish much, and what is needed to fight against crime and against organized crime is “to attack the foundation that sustains them: the economic foundation that supports them and corruption.”

Miguel Gomez and his film El Cielo Rojo (The Red Sky) debuted at the beginning of August getting favorable reviews from experts and general viewers. Cristian Cambronero of Fusil de Chispas [es] delivers a short, yet detailed review of the premiere of El Cielo Rojo on his blog:

Miguel escribió varios diálogos brillantes, absolutamente creíbles para nosotros, su público meta, los espectadores costarricenses. Yo, y estoy seguro que le pasará a muchísimos de quienes la vean, me reconocí a los 17 años en muchas secuencias, y mi mamá, y a mi abuela, y a las vecinas.

Trailer of El Cielo Rojo

Another director, Isthar Yashin recently contributed to the national cinema with El Camino (The Road) which received important awards and recognition in foreign Film Festivals. Inspired by El Camino’s intended message searching, Sergio Pacheco from La foto salió movida [es] writes:

Siempre me he reconocido migrante en mi propio país. Nací fuera de la capital y desde hace diez años estoy en la urbe (si a San José se le puede catalogar de tal forma). Muchos nos movemos dentro de nuestro país, entre países, entre mundos, entre el mundo, y el común denominador de ese movimiento es la búsqueda. El resultado es para todos diferente y para mí nunca estarán en el paralelo ganar- perder, si no en el de sobrevivir, que es un fluir.

Trailer of El Camino

Both Gomez and Yashin, intend to portray cultural and precise characteristics that may be considered as part of the distinct innermost nature not only of Costa Ricans, but all habitants of Central America.

The party is not over. Last week Bisonte Producciones offered a warm invitation in the form of a Two-Day Film Festival that exhibits different short films produced in its majority by students and amateurs whose lives, imagination, and reality have been seduced entirely by the audiovisual production. Latin America has always fostered the development of artistic expressions that expose one of the richest cultures regarding way of thinking, feeling and doing. Without a doubt, this is just the beginning.

MaJaDeRiA, a Colombian blogger living in Mexico, writes in her blog about her experience marching in this event, and noticing how class divided it was. The upper crust did head out to march, but stayed at the starting point, the Angel of Independence statue, the middle and lower classes, known by some as the “metro travelling class” did meet at the Zocalo. She ends with a few questions for the Mexican citizens:

• Por que no había una unanimidad de consignas?. Entre pedir la paz, pedir que si no cumplen renuncien y pedir que se acaben los secuestros….qué era lo que en realidad pedían?.
• Nunca entendí por que la marcha no era contra la violencia, sino contra la inoperancia de las autoridades. Una cosa va de la mano de la otra?. No debería uno marchar contra la violencia y pedir la revocatoria del mandato de las autoridades en otra parte?.
• Quién es el malo acá?. Los delincuentes, las autoridades, o quién?.
• Por qué llegar al Zócalo y no a los Pinos?. (a.k.a la casa del Presidente).

-Why wasn't there a unanimity in slogans? Among the requests for peace, asking for those who don't do their work to resign and demanding the end of kidnapping… what was it that they were really asking for?
- I never understood why the march wasn't against violence, but against the uselessness of the authorities. One thing goes along with the other? Shouldn't one march against violence and ask the revocation of the authorities mandate somewhere else?
- Who is the bad guy here? The delinquents, the authorities, or whom?
-Why reach the Zocalo and not los Pinos (a.k.a. the President's house)?

Her video Marcha D.F. on how the is on Blip.tv. The Spanish captions read: I don't know if marches
are good for anything other than giving incentives for informal commerce. But I do know that MANY people were at the D.F. March. It was good to see them walk.

From the Mexican city of Monterrey, yazpeace posts a video of the candle-lit anthem singing:

Image credits: photograph of votive candle by skyseeker.