
YoSoy132 demonstrations broke first in Mexico City. Tens of thousands streamed through the central corridor and gathered at the Angel of Independence monument to make it known that they, too, were opposed to the PRI regaining power. The party ruled the country for much of the 20th Century until 2000 with a potent mix of strategies that ultimately boils down to power-by-any-means necessary. It has a widely documented history of vote-buying, fraud, collusion with drug traffickers, censorship, intimidation, election-stealing, and often fatal repression against dissidents—from the assassination of top party figures such as Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994 to the outright massacres of student protesters in 1968 and 1971. Peña Nieto says the PRI under his candidacy is a new party, and that his campaign should not be faulted for the party’s “errors” of the past.

YoSoy132 demonstrations were also held in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Durango, Zacatecas, Tlaxcala, Aguascalientes, Veracruz, and many other cities in Mexico. Smaller protests in show of support of #YoSoy132 have also been reported among the wide Mexican diaspora in places like Chicago, Barcelona, Madrid, San Francisco, and before the White House in Washington, DC. Students at more than 35 universities and colleges across Mexico have joined the movement. What’s significant is that they’re forming a private- and public-university horizontal coalition that hasn’t been seen in Mexico with such force since the late 1960s. As thousands join their demonstrations, there’s a sense of collective dissent against the return of the so-called “dinosaurs” of the PRI, and collective disgust at the arguably biased role that the major media companies are playing in the process.
A student member of the #YoSoy132 movement waits to march with a sign reading, "The revolution will not be televised. #YoSoy132."
A dance troop practices wearing body pant that says out, "Our movement transcends your silence."
The day after Sunday's march, the government paid millions to bring in Justin Bieber to perform a free concert. Girls camped out for days. The disconnect between giving the kids JB and giving them real political change is jarring.
A newspaper showing one of the many daily-dead is sold next to one of the few magazines covering the movement at a newsstand in Mexico City.
A girl holds a sign in front of a campaign sign for Josefina Vazquez Mota, the PAN candidate, that says, "I am a minor and #YoSoy132." The movement has given voice to a generation that has grown up in a completely different Mexico than there parents.
A common refrain for the #YoSoy132 movement is "No more blood," or in this scene acted out by activists, "No mas Sangre."
Elderly activists hangout in the hot mid-day sun during the #YoSoy132 march. Older marchers like this remember demonstrating against the PRI in past decades. They often paid for it in blood.
iPhones, Anonymous masks, and umbrellas…
Protesters sporting TVs demonstrate outside Telavisa, one of the countries most corrupt media companies.