Un poco predecible, la prensa por estos lados ha emitido en su mayoría comentarios en suma desfavorables en torno a la marcha de los inmigrantes. Lo primero que se escuchó fue la inutilidad de la protesta ante la decisión de los senadores y más aún, los despidos de los participantes de la marcha bajo la excusa, -escuchen- de que los latinos usamos cualquier pretexto para holgazanear, pues según esto, nada se ganaría con no ir a la escuela o con no trabajar, sino demostrar nuestra "tradicional" flojera (?). Sobre la pérdida económica, según se dijo, tampoco menguaría ni afectaría a la economía estadounidense.
Chequen estas notas, son algunos comentarios de los diarios por acá...
Chequen estas notas, son algunos comentarios de los diarios por acá...
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New York Times
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Some companies closed on Monday, yet it is too early to assess the economic effects of the boycott. The effects were diminished because many workers notified their employers ahead of time that they planned to take the day off.
"This was a one-day deal," said Randel Johnson, vice president of the United States Chamber of Congress, which supports bills to legalize immigrants. "If immigrants decided to abandon their jobs for two weeks, that would definitely have an impact."
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said: "The protest, I don't think, changes votes on the floor of the Senate. I think what changes votes is coming down, sitting down, talking about it, as opposed to students' staying out of school. I happen to think that students' staying out of school is counterproductive."
I have a great respect for a lot of the people that did the protesting, but I think their message is all confused," said Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, whose sympathy dates from his childhood, when his mother, an Italian immigrant, was nearly deported. "The flag, the anthem, all that, it got everybody all mixed up. 'Take off work' — it sounded wrong to some people, right to others."
"What buttons were pressed?" Roberto Suro, the director of the center, asked, wondering aloud about what Americans saw when they looked at the protesters. "Was it that there are so many people here outside of government control or was it the hard-working family types? I think that's really imponderable."
"I want to be sensitive to human concerns, why they're here and how they're here. But when they act out like that, they lose me," Mr. Lott said.
He suggested a risk of deportation and said, "We had them all in a bunch, you know what I mean?"
Julia Preston contributed reporting from New York for this article, and Rachel L. Swarns from Washington.
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Daily southtown Chicago/Chicago Suntimes
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It was hard to measure the boycott's impact because business is usually reduced to a fraction of normal volume on Mexico's May Day holiday.
The protests coincided with a nationwide "Day Without Immigrants" in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants skipped work and took to the streets. Some in Mexico saw the marches as the beginning of a new, cross-border Latino movement.
"This is a great revolution of the bronze race, the brown race," Marti Batres, Mexico City leader of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, told a rally. "Our nation goes beyond the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande)," he said, noting that half of Mexico's territory became the western United States.
In Mexico, federal officials tried to distance themselves from the events. But at least a half-dozen state governors endorsed the boycott of U.S. companies.
Masked Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos told a rally of about 2,000 supporters outside the U.S. Embassy that immigrants in the United States are "fighting in the belly of the beast."
Celestino Garcia, a 32-year-old sandwich seller outside the Wal-Mart, said the number of shoppers was the same as on any other day. It also appeared to be business as usual at a McDonald's in a working-class neighborhood near the airport.
But the boycott appeared to be taking its toll on some businesses. Marina Serna, deputy manager for a downtown Burger King, saw only one customer in the first 90 minutes of operation. She called the boycott misguided, saying her restaurant was owned by Mexican franchise holders.
"Even if we work in a company with an international brand, the owners are not from the United States," she said.
Shawna Kelly, visiting Mexico City on business from San Diego, said the boycott could backfire.
"They shouldn't boycott businesses like McDonald's, because they're employing Mexican people in the U.S.," she said. "The more you do this, the more you make Americans angry."
Sergio Segura, 42, stood outside a McDonald's waiting for friends and said: "I'm not eating here — today or tomorrow."
Pointing to a nearby market offering tacos, tortillas and sandwiches, Segura said: "For what it costs for three hamburgers from McDonald's, you can buy for the whole family and eat well at the market."
The protests coincided with a nationwide "Day Without Immigrants" in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants skipped work and took to the streets. Some in Mexico saw the marches as the beginning of a new, cross-border Latino movement.
"This is a great revolution of the bronze race, the brown race," Marti Batres, Mexico City leader of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, told a rally. "Our nation goes beyond the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande)," he said, noting that half of Mexico's territory became the western United States.
In Mexico, federal officials tried to distance themselves from the events. But at least a half-dozen state governors endorsed the boycott of U.S. companies.
Masked Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos told a rally of about 2,000 supporters outside the U.S. Embassy that immigrants in the United States are "fighting in the belly of the beast."
Celestino Garcia, a 32-year-old sandwich seller outside the Wal-Mart, said the number of shoppers was the same as on any other day. It also appeared to be business as usual at a McDonald's in a working-class neighborhood near the airport.
But the boycott appeared to be taking its toll on some businesses. Marina Serna, deputy manager for a downtown Burger King, saw only one customer in the first 90 minutes of operation. She called the boycott misguided, saying her restaurant was owned by Mexican franchise holders.
"Even if we work in a company with an international brand, the owners are not from the United States," she said.
Shawna Kelly, visiting Mexico City on business from San Diego, said the boycott could backfire.
"They shouldn't boycott businesses like McDonald's, because they're employing Mexican people in the U.S.," she said. "The more you do this, the more you make Americans angry."
Sergio Segura, 42, stood outside a McDonald's waiting for friends and said: "I'm not eating here — today or tomorrow."
Pointing to a nearby market offering tacos, tortillas and sandwiches, Segura said: "For what it costs for three hamburgers from McDonald's, you can buy for the whole family and eat well at the market."
AP writers Alan Clendenning, E. Eduardo Castillo and Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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The Houston Chronicle
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Mexico Boycott Has Little Effect
MEXICO CITY — The boycott of U.S. businesses dubbed "A Day Without Gringos," and aimed at supporting migrants in the U.S., appears to have had little impact, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico said Tuesday.
Monday's protests were timed to coincide with "the Great American Boycott" in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of immigrants stayed away from jobs and schools across the country.
"Even though we don't have conclusive numbers, I think there wasn't a lot of negative effect," Chamber President Larry Rubin said by telephone from Washington, where he and other business leaders are lobbying for comprehensive immigration reform. "We basically ... think it was more symbolic."
Rubin said the boycott unwisely targeted some of immigrants' best allies _ U.S. corporations that have actively lobbied Congress for immigration reform, including legalization for many of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.
It was hard to measure the boycott's impact because business is normally reduced on the May Day holiday.
Businesses in Mexico City appeared to be operating as usual Monday, with customers streaming into Wal-Mart stores and McDonald's restaurants _ though there were reports of people passing out leaflets and briefly blocking the entrance to at least one U.S.-owned store.
In some Mexican cities, however, the boycott campaign was felt.
In the central city of Toluca, 35 miles west of Mexico City, a group of Mazahua Indian women entered a McDonald's on Monday with homemade food, encouraging customers to eat it instead of ordering hamburgers.
The Mazahuas managed to persuade many of the store's customers to leave, or to eat sopes, a traditional Mexican dish consisting of bean paste, lettuce or onions, and salsa on a thick corn tortilla, local news media reported.
They also passed out fliers urging customers to support the U.S. immigrant protests.
