Yo Soy 132 emerged before the presidential election as a non-partisan student movement. The group opposed Pena Nieto's election on the grounds that it represented a return to corrupt, conservative rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, known by the Spanish acronym PRI. Yo Soy 132 also criticized the party's alleged control over news media and political institutions. The group staged its first protest May 11 at Iberoamericana University, decrying Pena Nieto's role, as then-governor of Mexico state, in subduing protests against the election of Mexican President Felipe Calderon in 2006. The organization then grew through the dissemination of propaganda and through protest announcements via social media. Yo Soy 132 held protests across the country in May and June and organized presidential debates that Pena Nieto did not attend.
The organizational structure of Yo Soy 132 appears very decentralized, with few apparent national-level leaders. Local chapters have emerged in most Mexican states, and they often stage protests to coincide with larger marches in Mexico City and other principal cities. The group's largest protests have occurred in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Since Yo Soy 132's inception in May, Mexican media have claimed the group has links to Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolutionary Party, also known by its Spanish acronym PRD. A former Yo Soy 132 member claimed in June that the organization had met with former PRD congressman Alejandro Encinas and that Encinas helped Yo Soy 132 bring Chilean student leader Camila Vallejo to Mexico for a public event. After the elections, Lopez Obrador's Movement For National Regeneration — a political current within the PRD — reportedly formed a political alliance with Yo Soy 132 against Pena Nieto's election. The Movement for National Regeneration issued calls for protests, including for a July 7 march that drew up to 70,000 demonstrators. Yo Soy 132 subsequently issued a statement denying any official alliance. Nevertheless, Yo Soy 132 joined pro-Lopez Obrador groups — including the Mexican Electricians' Union and National Education Workers' Coordinator — during protests in July.
The cooperation of leftist organizations in a political campaign ahead of the inauguration portends nationwide political unrest. Yo Soy 132 and affiliated groups announced future protest dates running from August through December, and Yo Soy 132's followers have previously heeded almost all of the group's calls to demonstrate. Even before the election, Yo Soy 132 demonstrated the capability to bring tens of thousands of protesters into the streets of Mexico's cities. While most of its protests have not been violent, Yo Soy 132's highly decentralized structure makes it hard to predict the size, location and nature of protest activities. The group has also received backing from online activist group Anonymous, which crashed the website of the municipal government in Leon, Guanajuato state, to protest the arrests of Yo Soy 132 members.
But Yo Soy 132's protests will continue to be less disruptive than those that followed Lopez Obrador's electoral loss in 2006. This can be attributed partly to Lopez Obrador's loss of support from the more pragmatic wing of the PRD in the wake of the 2006 election. Furthermore, despite what are probably legitimate complaints about the way the election was conducted, Lopez Obrador lost by a much larger margin this year than he did in 2006. This weakens Lopez Obrador's case against Pena Nieto and makes it less likely that these protests will significantly challenge the inauguration. Still, the Yo Soy 132 protests are a boon for Lopez Obrador because they demonstrate public support for his anti-establishment stance.
The current protest campaign, bolstered by a resurgent student movement, will lend additional momentum to Lopez Obrador's challenge to Pena Nieto in the coming months. The political organizations opposed to a Pena Nieto presidency will continue to stage mass street protests, despite their inability to overturn the electoral results.
