Student-led protests may spark 'Mexican Spring'

The rise of a social media-based student movement is shaking up Mexico's 1 July presidential race. This is happening just as the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI – which ruled for seven decades until its defeat in 2000 – seems poised to return to power, writes Guillermo Trejo for Los Angeles Times.

The movement, led by students from the country's leading private universities in Mexico City, aims to prevent the return of a PRI government and to democratise the mass media. Spreading rapidly throughout the country since May, it has already had a measurable impact, particularly among young voters and independents, who represent 30% and 42% of the electorate, respectively.

The rise of social protest during an election cycle should not be surprising. What is surprising this time is the unprecedented rise of a social movement led by students from Mexico's leading private universities – middle-class and well-to-do students who will land elite jobs after graduation.
Full report on the Los Angeles Times site