In Mexico, Student Opposition Group Promises Future Protests

On Aug. 5, 112 Mexican political organizations attending the National Convention Against the Imposition of Enrique Pena Nieto announced they would hold 100 days of protest actions to prevent the Dec. 1 inauguration of the president-elect. Among these groups is student organization Yo Soy 132, which emerged prior to the July 1 election and held nationwide demonstrations against Pena Nieto before and after the election.

Despite Yo Soy 132's publicly non-partisan stance, its opposition to Pena Nieto's election aligns its interests with those of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the runner-up in the presidential election. Lopez Obrador has challenged the election results, alleging voter fraud and illegal campaign funding by Pena Nieto. Yo Soy 132 appears to be siding with leftist groups in a campaign sympathetic to — but not directly linked to — Lopez Obrador's movement to invalidate Pena Nieto's election. This opposition to the return of Mexico's conservative Institutional Revolutionary Party to the presidency could spark nationwide political unrest in the upcoming months but is unlikely to significantly interfere with Pena Nieto's taking office.