Nonviolence in a Violent Country. Mexico in the XXI Century

Since the turn of the Century, there has been an increase in the amount of violence in Mexico related to organized crime and the governmental strategies to enforce the law through the use of the armed forces (Army and Navy), since the police has been infiltrated or overpowered by the criminal organizations. This has provoked an increase in human rights violations and protests against violence coming from both criminals and armed forces. This paper analyzes, a) the protest events in which some kind of violence occurs; b) the non-violent strategies of several social movement (SMOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in México; c) their experiences and consequences for social mobilization and peaceful solution of conflicts. Information from violent protest events comes from the LAOMS data base. The social movement organizations studied are: Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad (MPJD), the Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a la Presa La Parota (CECOP), en Guerrero, and the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra (FDPT), in the state of Mexico. The NGOs studied are: Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ), Centro de derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan, and Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (CENCOS).