by It has scared off investors and prompted US Ambassador Ken Salazar to call it a “risk” to democracy and an economic threat.
The protesters’ Tuesday break-in was met with sharp criticism from some, such as Senator Andrea Chávez of Morena, who wrote in a post on X: “Forcibly entering the plenary where we, the representatives of the people, deliberate is not a way to resolve differences.”
Others, like Mayuli Martínez Simón, a PAN senator, blamed the ruling party as they stood on the Senate floor among the crowd of protesters. As she did so, protesters trickled out, heading to another building where the senators were resuming their debate. The protesters tried to reenter the alternate venue, which ended in clashes with police forces, during which tear gas was fired.
“In the absence of dialogue from Morena, this is what we are seeing today. The citizens, Mexicans, took over the Senate and entered by force. It is not the best, but we had no other option,” she told The Associated Press in an interview.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Chief Justice Norma Piña, whose position is subject to elections, called on the Mexican Senate to listen to the protesters and called for peace.
Piña “reiterates the call for listening, legal and institutional channels and peaceful, open and responsible dialogue as the way to resolve our differences and move towards the reconciliation and peace that Mexico needs,” the Supreme Court said on X.
