Guadalajara Water Protest Turns Violent as Congress Is Set Ablaze
(MENAFN) Hooded individuals set off explosives and torched the entrances of the state Congress building in Guadalajara, western Mexico, on Sunday, turning a demonstration over the city’s water crisis violent. It was the second mass protest in the space of a week.
Residents across the Guadalajara metropolitan area have endured water supply failures for years, reporting shortages and black, foul-smelling water coming out of their taps.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus acknowledged earlier this month what he described as “an unprecedented drinking water crisis,” after health authorities found coliform bacteria in the water supply.
Officials and march organizers alike described the masked individuals as suspected infiltrators who joined the crowd to provoke violence. Footage and accounts circulating on social media showed people carrying hammers, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers, and reports also emerged of looting and damage to businesses.
Demonstrators publicly disowned the hooded group and halted the march, refusing to continue until those behind the violence separated from the crowd.
“At the beginning, a group of violent thugs tried to provoke violence and chaos, but the citizen organizers identified them, rejected them and expelled them from the march,” Lemus wrote on US social media platform X.
Five people were reportedly detained after being found in a stolen pickup truck carrying gasoline containers. They are suspected of setting fire to the entrances of the state Congress and Judicial Branch buildings.
Sunday’s unrest followed Guadalajara’s first March for Water on Oct. 11, which drew more than 10,000 people. Riot police and firefighters were deployed that day and reportedly used clean water to disperse demonstrators.
That protest left 57 people injured and 39 detained, amid allegations of police brutality against protesters and journalists. Seventeen police officers have since faced legal proceedings over claims of excessive force, while detainees have also accused officers of torture.
Lemus blamed the crisis on the city’s aging pipes, which he said have gone without maintenance for more than 70 years. He also announced plans to renovate the city’s aqueducts.
Residents across the Guadalajara metropolitan area have endured water supply failures for years, reporting shortages and black, foul-smelling water coming out of their taps.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus acknowledged earlier this month what he described as “an unprecedented drinking water crisis,” after health authorities found coliform bacteria in the water supply.
Officials and march organizers alike described the masked individuals as suspected infiltrators who joined the crowd to provoke violence. Footage and accounts circulating on social media showed people carrying hammers, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers, and reports also emerged of looting and damage to businesses.
Demonstrators publicly disowned the hooded group and halted the march, refusing to continue until those behind the violence separated from the crowd.
“At the beginning, a group of violent thugs tried to provoke violence and chaos, but the citizen organizers identified them, rejected them and expelled them from the march,” Lemus wrote on US social media platform X.
Five people were reportedly detained after being found in a stolen pickup truck carrying gasoline containers. They are suspected of setting fire to the entrances of the state Congress and Judicial Branch buildings.
Sunday’s unrest followed Guadalajara’s first March for Water on Oct. 11, which drew more than 10,000 people. Riot police and firefighters were deployed that day and reportedly used clean water to disperse demonstrators.
That protest left 57 people injured and 39 detained, amid allegations of police brutality against protesters and journalists. Seventeen police officers have since faced legal proceedings over claims of excessive force, while detainees have also accused officers of torture.
Lemus blamed the crisis on the city’s aging pipes, which he said have gone without maintenance for more than 70 years. He also announced plans to renovate the city’s aqueducts.
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