MEXICO CITY — An anti-violence march that began with a few hundred people and gathered thousands over a four-day trek reached Mexico’s capital Sunday, led by a poet whose son was killed by suspected drug traffickers.
An estimated 20,000 people poured into the main Zocalo square in Mexico City, wearing white T-shirts saying “enough bloodshed” and carrying photos of poet Javier Sicilia’s slain son.
A few hundred people set off from Cuernavaca in the central state of Morelos on Thursday, marching silently along the 50-mile route. City officials said the march swelled to at least 20,000 after the bulk of protesters joined in Mexico City, although some media reported tens of thousands more.
Sofia Zepeda, 19, whose uncle disappeared with three others on a trip to western Colima state, carried a sign saying, “No more violence, no more bloodshed.”
“I came because of the problems that we are suffering across the country. We are marching for a free country with social conscience,” said Zepeda, of the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec.
Gruesome violence has surged in the region southwest of Mexico City since drug kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva died in a December 2009 shootout with marines in Cuernavaca, leading to the splintering of his cartel.
Similar turf fighting has claimed more than 34,600 lives nationwide since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops and federal police in late 2006 to intensify the battle against brutal cartels. An unprecedented number of drug bosses have been captured or killed, leading to a splintering of their cartels and fierce infighting over territory.
