Residents of Xochimilco accused Mayor Carlos Acosta of suppressing the collection of signatures for his dismissal

In the afternoon of Thursday February 23, the inhabitants of the town hall Xochimilco denounced having been repressed during a collection of signatures on the outskirts of the Xochimilco market by “political operators”.

Since according to Coordination of Towns, Original Neighborhoods and Colonies of Xochimilcomembers of the administration of Jose Carlos Acosta They showed up to remove the signature collection tables for the revocation of the mandate of Mayor Morenista.

It should be remembered that after the demonstration repressed by a hundred policemen in San Gregorio Atlapulco in December 2022, leaving a balance of 24 injuredthe inhabitants of the town hall announced that they would seek to dismiss the morenista, who managed to get re-elected for the period 2021-2024 despite various controversies during his administration.

Through a statement, they reported that the attack occurred around 2:40 p.m. when a woman came to the table of Peoples Coordination, who identified herself as part of the Legal and governmental department accompanied by nine people.

They surrounded the table where two members of the civic organization were and demanded that they leave the place, arguing that they they occupied the street and the public space. “After we started recording and told them we weren’t moving, they pulled out,” the statement read.

But a few minutes later, other people showed up, who identified themselves as market tenants and said that They supported Mayor Carlos Acosta. They began to try to take the table away from the coordination members alleging that they could not establish themselves instead.

“(…) First because they ‘made an event’, but then, claiming that they supported the Mayor. Such actions were supported by legal and government personnel who returned to the scene and continued to insist that we could not be there.”

Despite the fact that they did not report any physical assaults, they assured that the sheets with the signatures they had collected throughout the morning of Thursday were stolen by suspected town hall sympathizers.

Derived from the events, the Coordination of Towns, Original Neighborhoods and Colonies of Xochimilco assured that it would not allow any restrictions on the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression inside the demarcation.

Well, just like city hall workers and tenants have every right to support Carlos Acosta,”we also have the right to express our public rejection of such a situation”.

“The streets of the mayor’s office do not belong to the mayor, nor do they own what can and cannot be said publicly.”

Likewise, they endorsed their commitment to continue the process of collecting signatures in more locations from the mayor’s office for the revocation of the mandate against the mayor, because failure to do so would leave the precedent that the streets “belong to Jose Carlos Acosta”.

Finally, they demanded that the head of government in Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaumtake responsibility for what you do “his cacique” inside Xochimilco.

This is not the first controversy in which the mayor is involved, nor the first accusation of repression, since at the end of December the inhabitants of San Gregorio Atlapulco had accused him of having tried to take charge of the community pantheon through the formation of a Committee where the persons related to him have been designated.

In addition, he was accused of threatening Patricia Guzmanrepresentative of Pro-Pantheon Committee. After a negotiation table in which the government of the capital took part, the Pro-Pantheon Committee succeeded in having its demands accepted above the alleged interests of the morenista.