Social Networking Sites Mobilize Protestors
Across Mexico thousands of protestors took to the streets in a stand against the wave of drug-related killings that have plagued the country. The demonstrations were triggered by the murder of the son of poet Javier Sicilia, and were organized via social networking sites. The protest in the Mexican capital mobilized over 5,000 people who marched to the National Palace, the seat of the government of conservative President Felipe Calderon.
There was no organization, political party or TV station behind the protest, and the mainstream media play a reluctant role as guests in what was a grassroots movement organized over 48 hours in Twitter and Facebook. The call for the protest was launched by poet Javier Sicilia, who writes for the weekly newspaper Proceso, after his 24 year old son was killed along with six other people on March 28 in drug-related violence.