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Podcast Notes: Emo’s attacked, Zimbabwe and AC Milan’s Tech.

Click here to listen to the podcast of the show in which I was interviewed about the persecution of Emos in Mexico. If you click on the link, an mp3 file will load.

According to El Universal, the Commission called for tolerance yesterday and voiced concern that attacks against emos violate the right to freedom of expression, equality, freedom of expression and the right to association.

The move by the human rights body follow disturbances which have taken place both inside and outside Mexico City, in which emos have been violently targeted. A peace rally staged last week did little to diffuse tensions, which this weekend were apparent during a march for tolerance through the city.

As covered by Daniel Hernandez here on his blog, which has provided excellent coverage of the disturbances, a march for tolerance which took place yesterday through central Mexico City turned rather nasty, especially when it arrived at El Chopo market.

See here for more.

The result was this blog post by correspondent Ken Ellingwood and myself featuring a video interview with 18-year-old Andrea Velazquez.

Since the first attack against the group of youths who identify themselves as ‘emos’ happened in Queretero at the beginning of the month, animosity has been growing amongst those who resent the ‘emo’ look and attitude.

Mexico’s City government now wants to create what it calls a round-table meeting to allow the various actors involved to exchange ideas and points of view, and to try to bring an end to ‘confrontations between youths who have a right to express themselves as they wish.’

Hernandez, again blogging, this time for LAWeekly, points out how Mexican television personalities are adding fuel to an already burning fire, one presenter referring to the emo social movement as ‘fucking bullshit.’

Hostility against emos in Mexico is being generated via the internet, and punks and skaters are currently being blamed as the perpetrators of the aggression towards them. But intellectuals and youth leaders interviewed in La Jornada on Friday said that the aggression is in fact way deeper than that.

Rather than a mere reflection of rivalry between different social movements or fashion groups, the aggression is the result of a deeply conservative society, according to Ignacio Pineda, the head of a cultural forum that is a meeting space for many different youth groups. It’s convenient for the government that there are growing divisions between youth movements, he continues.

Down at the glorieta on Mexico City’s Insurgentes today, where confrontations between emos and punks took place last week and where the emo’s generally hang out, things were quiet. Observers from the city’s Human Rights Commision were in attendance, as was a heavier than usual police presence in the area. But the young people themselves were keeping a low profile.

So where did this all start? And where is it all going? Hopefully, more will surface in the coming weeks and watch this space for video content on the issue….