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Mexico gasoline protests: four dead and hundreds arrested during mass looting Mexico gasoline protests: president insists there's no alternative to price hike
(about 13 hours later)
Protests and looting fueled by anger over gasoline price rises of 20% in Mexico have led to four deaths, the ransacking of at least 300 stores and the arrests of more than 700 people, officials said. Mexico’s beleaguered president Enrique Peña Nieto has once again become the target of public anger after attempting to defend a 20% hike in gasoline prices that has provoked a wave of violent demonstration and looting across the country this week.
The country’s business chambers said supplies of basic goods and fuel were threatened by the combination of highway, port and terminal blockades and looting this week that forced many businesses to close. The mass lootings came before Friday’s Epiphany or Three Kings Day holiday. At least 987 people had been arrested after the fifth day of unrest, which has spread to at least 14 of Mexico 32 states, according to the Animal Politíco news site.
Two people were found dead amid looting in the port city of Veracruz. State prosecution officials said late on Thursday the killers had not yet been identified.  Officials said three people were killed amidst looting in the eastern state of Veracruz on Thursday and a police officer was killed on Wednesday while trying to prevent robberies at a gas station in Mexico City.
Earlier, officials said a bystander was run over and killed by a driver fleeing police also in Veracruz, and a police officer was killed trying to stop robberies at a gas station in Mexico City. In a televised address to the nation on Thursday night, Peña Nieto insisted that there was no alternative to the hike announced on 1 January as part of government deregulation of the energy sector.
Mexicans were enraged by the 20% fuel price rise announced over the weekend as part of government deregulation of the energy sector. “Allowing gasoline to rise to its international price is a difficult change, but as president, my job is to precisely make difficult decisions now, in order to avoid worse consequences in the future,” he said. “Keeping petrol prices artificially low would mean taking money away from the poorest Mexicans, and giving it to those who have the most.”
While acknowledging the anger, President Enrique Peña Nieto said on Thursday he would forge ahead with the deregulated price scheme, which would do away with fuel subsidies and allow gasoline prices to be determined by prevailing international prices. Peña Nieto, who took office in 2012, has the lowest approval ratings of any Mexican president in over two decades and has been widely criticised over his handling of corruption scandals, the 2014 disappearance of 43 student teachers, and Mexico’s sluggish economic performance, despite having passed reforms that he promised would bring lower energy prices.
“I know that allowing gasoline to rise to its international price is a difficult change, but as president, my job is to precisely make difficult decisions now, in order to avoid worse consequences in the future,” Peña Nieto said in a televised address. “Keeping gas prices artificially low would mean taking money away from the poorest Mexicans, and giving it to those who have the most.” The gasolinazo – as the hike has become known – has made him the target of further sustained public anger. During his speech – in which he also vowed to “build a positive relationship” with the incoming Donald Trump administration – Peña Nieto asked the Mexican public “what would you have done?” in his situation.
Peña Nieto said the other big challenge for Mexico in 2017 was to “build a positive relationship with the new US administration,” something he said would be done with Mexico’s “unbreakable dignity”. The phrase quickly became a trending topic on Twitter as furious members of the public and opposition leaders offered the president their advice. “I wouldn’t have betrayed Lázaro Cárdenas and his legacy,” said Guadalajara mayor Enrique Alfaro, referring to the former president who nationalised Mexico’s oil industry in 1938. “I wouldn’t have lied to the Mexican people.”
While looting calmed somewhat on Thursday, protesters blocked highways at about two dozen places. For much of the week, protesters have blockaded gas stations and some people have broken into stores to carry off merchandise. Peña Nieto also announced that high-ranking federal officials would take a 10% pay cut, but that is unlikely to assuage the concerns of the public after the peso hit a record low against the dollar this week.
Police in Mexico’s capital said they had arrested 76 people for looting about 29 stores. The petrol hike is also expected to have a knock-on effect on consumer goods, public transport and other services. Uber announced on Thursday that it was raising its rates by 7.5 to 18.2% across different Mexican cities after analysing the rise in petrol prices.
Veracruz governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares ventured out on Thursday and tried to persuade a crowd not to attack a grocery store that had already been looted a day earlier. He offered the crowd coupons for 500 pesos ($23). Yunes later said that wasn’t an incentive to stop looting, but rather an offer of assistance to help single mothers buy holiday gifts. Protesters have responded to the hikes by blocking highways and petrol stations across the country, while a major public transport strike in Guadalajara on Wednesday led the police and members of the public to pull together by offering lifts to stranded commuters.
In Mexico state, which borders Mexico City, 529 suspected looters were detained. Four police officers were fired and detained after they were caught on video taking some looted items and putting them in their patrol vehicles. Video of the Wednesday disturbances showed riot-like scenes of people streaming out of stores carrying flat-screen TVs and other items. Demonstrations in the northern city of Monterrey turned violent on Thursday when protesters tried to force their way into the government palace, reportedly smashing stained glass windows and setting off fireworks and pepper spray.
Officials said many of the looting incidents were promoted through social media. The sense of chaos and panic has been heightened by legions of bots encouraging looting and spreading disinformation on social media. Humberto Lozano, president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism in Mexico City, said in a press conference that false rumours of looting spread via social media led 20,000 small businesses to close in the capital on Wednesday, causing losses of 52 million pesos ($2.4m).
With blockades affecting everything from gas distribution terminals, seaports and highways to shopping centers and gas stations, the Communications and Transport Department announced it would cancel the permits of any truckers who block roads. Truck and taxi drivers have been among the most affected by the fuel price increases. Mexico City’s cyber-police force said it was investigating the false rumours and had identified over 1,500 accounts responsible for causing incendiary phrases like “ransack a Walmart” to trend on Twitter.
The change boosted the average price for a liter of premium gasoline to 17.79 pesos (about 90 cents). That makes four liters, or about a gallon, equal to nearly as much as Mexico’s recently raised minimum wage for a day’s work – 80 pesos (about $4). Alberto Escorcia, a blogger who specialises in investigating the use of bots in Mexico, warned that there was a danger that the propagation of threats and misinformation could discredit and distract from the many legitimate protests occurring across Mexico. “They’re encouraging people to commit violent acts and to loot shops. They’re calling on people to take Congress on Monday,” he said. “These are criminals who are practically promoting terrorism, this has nothing to do with social protest.”
The National Association of Self-Service and Department Stores of Mexico said in a statement more than 79 stores were looted and 170 were closed or blockaded in central Mexico, including the capital. Escorcia warned that further violence was possible over the coming days and lamented that Peña Nieto’s message had done little to reduce the tensions caused by the hike and exacerbated by the bots. “I can’t be sure who’s behind this because they cover their tracks very well,” he added. “We’ve had five very difficult days and it seems like someone wants the situation in Mexico to boil over.”
In the city of Veracruz, 50 establishments including convenience stores, supermarkets and large outlets suffered looting, according to a preliminary count by the local chamber of commerce.