Authorities have erected tall steel anti-riot barriers around Mexico City’s National Palace ahead of planned protests to mark International Women’s Day on Monday.
The colonial-era palace is located on the city’s vast central plaza, and is where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lives and works.
López Obrador has been engaged in verbal sparring matches in recent weeks with feminists after his Morena Party nominated a man who has been accused of rape as candidate for the governorship of the southern state of Guerrero.
People walk past a perimeter fence set up in front of the National Palace in preparation for the upcoming International Women's Day demonstration, in Mexico City, Friday, March 5, 2021. Marked on March 8th, the day has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975, to celebrate women’s achievements and aims to further their rights. (AP PhotoEduardo Verdugo)
Candidate Félix Salgado has not been charged, in part because prosecutors claimed the statute of limitations ran out on one of the accusations. His lawyer has denied the accusations. But the Morena party has scheduled a re-run of an internal poll to see whether Salgado should remain as the candidate.
The installation of the barricades late Thursday and early Friday was ironic, given that López Obrador himself once led protests in the same plaza.
Some protesters at women’s rights demonstrations have engaged in violence and vandalism in recent years.
Banners with messages directed at Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hang from a perimeter fence set up in front of the National Palace as preparation for the upcoming International Women's Day demonstration, in Mexico City, Friday, March 5, 2021. Marked on March 8th, the day has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975, to celebrate women’s achievements and aims to further their rights. (AP PhotoEduardo Verdugo)