After Gen Z march in Mexico, government and critics spar as Trump cites ‘big problems’ south of border.

MEXICO CITY — A weekend protest march organized to highlight the concerns of Mexico’s Generation Z instead dramatized deep political divisions that go far beyond the needs of young Mexicans.

The mostly peaceful protest in downtown Mexico City on Saturday culminated with several hours of clashes as small groups of demonstrators fought with phalanxes of riot police deployed to protect the National Palace in Mexico City’s central plaza, or zócalo.

In the aftermath of the protests, Mexico’s left-wing President Claudia Sheinbaum accused right-wing opponents of hijacking the protest to provoke unrest and defame her government.

“A march that was supposed to be called against violence used violence,” Sheinbaum told reporters Monday.

But opposition leaders and other critics said the march reflected deep concern about alleged cartel infiltration of the government and accused police of brutalizing young protesters.

Among those who have noticed the chaotic scenes in Mexico is President Trump, who, in comments to the press in the Oval Office on Monday, again raised the provocative specter of U.S. strikes against cartel targets in Mexico. The country is a major production site for fentanyl, amphetamines and other synthetic drugs for the U.S. market, as well as a transportation corridor for South American cocaine.

“I looked at Mexico City this weekend. There are big problems there,” Trump said. “Let me put it this way: I am not satisfied with Mexico.”

Asked if he would consider U.S. attacks on cartel targets in Mexico, Trump responded: “Would I call strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? That’s fine with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs.”

Trump accused Mexico of being “run by the cartels,” although he praised Sheinbaum as a “very courageous woman.”

Sheinbaum denied that cartels control Mexico. She maintained a cooperative stance with Trump on two contentious binational issues — drug trafficking and tariffs — but said Mexico would not abandon its sovereignty or accept U.S. strikes.

Saturday’s march – one of several similar protests across Mexico that day – was initially organized in support of Generation Z, after similar demonstrations in Nepal and Morocco. Young people around the world have lamented the lack of economic and educational opportunities.

But the rally in Mexico City became primarily a march against what many participants called the left-wing “narco-government” of Sheinbaum and his ruling Morena party.

Many demonstrators held banners proclaiming: “My name is Carlos Manzo,” named after the mayor of the western city of Uruapan, who was murdered this month in a shooting that authorities blamed on organized crime.

Manzo had accused Sheinbaum’s government of coddling criminals. Supporters of his so-called “White Hat” movement — based on the mayor’s popular signature sombrero — took to the streets of Uruapan and other cities in Michoacán state this month by tens of thousands to demand a crackdown on organized crime. Supporters of this growing movement were also major participants in Saturday’s march in Mexico City.

In the aftermath of the march, Sheinbaum’s opponents accused his government of suppressing dissent.

“They brutalized young people who only want a better Mexico,” accused Alejandro Moreno, president of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, on X. “They beat them because they are afraid. They know that the power of an organized people is stronger than a cowardly narco-regime.”

Mexican authorities denied allegations of brutality and said at least 60 police officers were injured.

A small minority of protesters, many wearing ski masks, threw rocks, bottles, fireworks and other improvised weapons at police. The police used physical force and volleys of tear gas to push them back. Each side accused the other of having started the melee.

“They wanted to generate this idea: ‘Chaos in Mexico!’ Sheinbaum charged, highlighting how images of the clashes received widespread national and international attention in the press and social media.

The president called for an investigation into this violence which, according to her, was financed by her opponents. She promised that authorities would also investigate any allegations of police brutality. The vast majority of protesters, she said, were nonviolent.

Authorities said 17,000 demonstrators took part in Saturday’s demonstration. The opposition said the figure was much higher.

Opponents of the Sheinbaum government have promised to protest more. But many experts doubt that a deeply divided opposition can do much to loosen Morena’s grip on power.

Sheinbaum’s predecessor and mentor, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, faced much larger street protests during his term, as well as allegations of ties to drug traffickers. But neither seemed to dent his widespread popularity.

Polls give Sheinbaum, who just completed the first year of a six-year term, an approval rating of more than 70 percent. His Morena party, strong on the support of poor and working-class Mexicans who have benefited from minimum wage increases and social welfare programs, maintains firm control over Congress, the courts and most of Mexico’s legislatures.

Security remains the top concern for most Mexicans, according to polls, even as the president touts a decline in homicides and other violent crimes. Sheinbaum launched a crackdown on organized crime that saw thousands of suspects arrested, including dozens deported to face justice in U.S. courts.

Special Envoy Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.