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democracy comes to cerro del cuatro On a Sunday afternoon in May 1994, a flatbed truck and a van pulled up to the dusty corner of 8 de Julio and Santa Luz streets in the southern metropolitan area of Guadalajara called Cerro del Cuatro. A group of men—residents of Cerro del Cuatro who worked with a local political organization, the Union of Independent Settlers (Unión de Colonos Independientes, uci)—had been talking nearby.1 Now, they stopped and walked over to help the new arrivals unload pieces of scaffolding and staging. The uci, an alliance of neighborhood groups, had fought for more than five years for urban services, secure land tenure, and democratization. The recent arrivals were members of a nongovernmental organization, the Jalisco Citizen Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano Jalisciense, mcj). A coalition of several groups, the mcj defined itself as a pro-democracy organization. With the presidential elections coming in August, mcj members were busy organizing political awareness campaigns to convince people to vote. On that Sunday, Cerro del Cuatro was the locale of the Foro Callejero, or street forum, at which local media personalities, nongovernmental organization (ngo) activists, and the local community organization, arguing for the need to democratize Mexico, encouraged area residents to take action toward that goal. The pro-democracy activists quickly surveyed the street corner and then directed and helped the others in setting up the scaffolding. Several of the neighborhood men were bricklayers and laborers, so they worked quickly. Within a half 1. The uci–Cerro del Cuatro was the main colonos (settlers) group using this name. At times, other ucis emerged in other areas of Guadalajara, but these organizations never possessed the power of uci–Cerro del Cuatro. 1 in the streets with mexico’s democracy movement hour, the locals and the visitors had erected a four-foot-high stage, as well as two seven-foot-high towers facing the stage. The mcj activists opened the van’s doors and began to unload electronic equipment, including large black speakers and a soundboard. Some of the passengers started stringing wires, placing lights, and testing the equipment, while others gingerly unpacked a massive widescreen television and sophisticated video gear. With some anxiety, the newcomers and residents hoisted the cameras and lights into place on the towers. More vehicles arrived, bringing young mcj organizers. The newcomers joked and commented about the dust and the view of the city from the hill, and then set about unpacking props and costumes. One man donned a brilliant red devil’s costume, and others wrestled with stilts. Around 5:00 P.M., the drivers of the van announced that the event was about to begin. The van slowly drove down 8 de Julio followed by scores of women, men, and children and by the fully costumed actors. Three actors, heavily made up and ten feet tall atop their stilts, picked their way precariously among the rocks, potholes, dust, and garbage of the unpaved street. While the driver of the van used a loudspeaker to exhort other residents to join the march, the devil pounded a drum and darted through the marching group, teasing kids and matrons alike. Many of the women held signs reading, “We struggle for justice!” “We want democracy!” and “We demand sewer drains!” giving the devil fodder for his teasing. “Demand!? Who do you think you are? A rich person, that we should listen to?” Another actor dressed as a skeleton urged the kids to make noise. After a short walk, the van turned around and led approximately 150 marchers back to the street corner. Back at the stage, a woman representing Mexico was drummed to the stage by the devil, followed by his skeleton helper. They placed the woman under a gallows, where the devil broke the fake chains with which he had intended to tie her up. After his clowning, the devil retreated from the stage, which was decorated with wall hangings representing regional art. Yolanda Zamora, a radio talk show host moderating the event, welcomed the audience, thanked the people for their participation, and introduced other mcj and uci members. As buses on their daily routes halted near the stage, more people walked over to see what was going on. Vendors of peanuts and shaved ice hawked their wares and searched for customers. Throughout the next several hours, people would draw close, elbowing through the crowd to get a better look at the proceedings , and then stay or drift away. Yolanda emphasized that...

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