A 'Cry' against classism, racism and corruption

The Zócalo was filled again after the two fateful years of the pandemic.

This time yes, the heart of Mexico City was able to commemorate the beginning of Independence in the heat of the crowd.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador celebrated the Grito on Thursday night before a square packed with almost 140,000 attendees.

The 'vivas' returned from a protocol and brief act with little room for improvisation.

But where there is always room for a message with the seal of the president in office.

This year, López Obrador found his niche with a formula in contrast to the traditional cheers: “Death to classism, racism and corruption!”

From the balcony of the National Palace, the president's statement, which could also serve as a campaign

for the Fourth Transformation, was mixed with cheers for Hidalgo, Morelos, Josefa Ortiz, Leona Vicario, the mothers and fathers of the country , the anonymous heroes or the heroic people of Mexico.

In his list, López Obrador also included other recipients already habitual in his three previous cries: the "indigenous communities" and other more universal ones such as "freedom", "justice", "democracy" or "our sovereignty".

The presidential intervention, lasting just one minute, concluded with the ringing of the bell of Dolores, placed on the presidential balcony.

A recreation of the original harangue of the priest Miguel Hidalgo on September 16, 1810 in Guanajuato, a historical episode and founding myth of Mexican Independence.

Then came the turn of the national anthem, the fireworks, the son jarocho and

.

From noon, the Zócalo square, one of the largest in the world, began to receive people.

To warm up the engines, the popular norteño music group Los Tigres del Norte played live starting at 8:30 p.m.

Given the number of people who were arriving, the authorities announced that they had opened the empty spaces on the sides of the balcony, which on previous occasions used to remain closed to the press and military.

López Obrador had made it clear during the preparation of the celebrations that he wanted it to be a special day after two years of silent and lonely screaming due to the pandemic.

This year's list of guests at the National Palace is an example of this.

The former presidents of Bolivia Evo Morales, and Uruguay José Mujica.

Che Guevara's daughter, Aleida, and relatives of

founder Julian Assange and Martin Luther King.

And the list was even longer, with more illustrious names from the political and cultural left who finally missed the appointment: the Dalai Lama, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the family of the South African Nelson Mandela and the American academic Noam Chomsky. .

At noon, the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, had welcomed Morales and Mujica with a lunch in a cantina with traditional Mexican food and music.

The guests of the Government of Morena have also been a sample of López Obrador's foreign agenda.

The Mexican government was one of the few Latin American executives that came out in defense of the former Bolivian president in 2019 after being forced to resign from office due to pressure from the Army.

The Executive sent an Armed Forces plane to take him to Mexico.

Morales thanked López Obrador for the invitation last week, whom he called "soul brother."

In addition, he referred to Mexico as "that country that saved our lives and served as a refuge from the persecution of coup plotters in 2019".

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