Thousands of unionists and campesinos marched in Mexico City on Jan. 31 in what has become a traditional annual protest against the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the federal government's neoliberal economic policies. This year about 40,000 people participated, according to the organizers; the Mexico City police estimated 22, 000. Martín Esparza, general secretary of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME), called for driving President Felipe Calderón out of office, even though his term ends in less than two years. "This government only has a few months left," Esparza told the marchers, "but we should overthrow it, the way they did in Tunisia and the way it's being done in Egypt. We need to raise up a civil and peaceful insurgency throughout the country." (La Jornada, Feb. 1)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Feb. 6.

See our last post on Mexico and the labor struggle.