George W visits Mérida, Yucatan in Mexico

I hope the first thing that comes to mind with the subject title is protest because if not, you are grossly underestimating the intense rage and hatred that Latin America (and the rest of the world) feels against our president and sadly in consequence against us. There is a complex duality that comes with being born and raised in the US and with identifying as American (estadounidense in Spanish because let us never forget that we occupy one part of the entire American continent), especially when living and/or travelling in a foreign country.

Americans know that we are not well liked in much of the world. We've seen it on TV and we've heard it from the mouths of babes but how many of us can say that we've actually EXPERIENCED the rage, the disgust, the poverty and power conflicts associated with being "under the wing" of the United States of America....not many...I never had before yesterday.

There were molotov coctails and pepper gas. Students climbing the US Embassy fence, throwing rocks and manhole covers onto the riot police. People throwing up, eyes swollen shut, burning and choking, gas masks, signs, flame thrower, shouts, "Cuba sí, Yankees no", burning flags, burning masks, burning paintings. My head spun out of control but I maintained control....I had to or run away screaming and crying like I wanted to.



I don't want to ruin these images with my usual chronical of events, I feel that sometimes words can take away from the intensity of photos....besides, I'm still feeling the residual affects of being involed in a protest against my country, against my president and ultimately against my people.

Below is a series of (many) photos and short videos taken during yesterday's protest from the Hemiciclo a Juarez to the US Embassy in Mexico City. This may take a while to load....good luck.
All photos and videos are courtesy of either me or Antonio Ruiz. To see more, please visit my photobucket and youtube accounts (links to the left) and/or Toño's youtube account --
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"For the blood of our brothers. Bush, out, Murderer!"







"for national sovereignty and self-determination of our towns"







"We demand respect for our sovereignty! No to the shameful wall! Stop the genocide in Iraq! No to Plan Puebla!"







"Bush Murderer"

"Bush, the worst criminal: leave"

"Neither Bush nor Calderon are my sons. Sincerely, Hell"




















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Videos shot at the US EMBASSY















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New York Times: "Anti-American sentiment runs high here, with more than half of 1,000 people surveyed in a recent BBC poll saying they viewed the United States’ influence in the world as mainly negative. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percent."