On the late afternoon of Saturday, June 30, scores of members of the Mexican community of greater New York City gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square and cast their ballots in a “voto simbólico”—a symbolic vote—for the country’s president. Organized by the New York City area cell of the highly creative and dynamic student-led movement in Mexico, #Yo Soy 132—which some have characterized as the “Mexican Spring”—it, too, aims for the democratization of the country’s political system and the media. Among those who cast ballots in Union Square, there was overwhelming support for Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), the candidate of the Center-Left. So no doubt the members of Yo Soy 132 NY are disappointed with what appear to be the results of the presidential election. (It took place the following day, July 1, in Mexico.) Regardless of the outcome, the work of Yo Soy 132 NY illustrates the dynamic nature of the U.S.-Mexico border region, while serving as a manifestation of the ongoing struggle to define it.
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