About the March

Excélsior published a poll yesterday about the May 8 march and insecurity more generally. Regarding the latter, 59 percent expressed approval of Calderón's security policies, which is down a great deal from a couple of years ago (approval stood at 73 percent in 2008), but up a point from January. The number of people saying that confronting organized crime is one of Calderón's biggest achievements and that he is containing the phenomenon has plummeted since May 2009 (evidently the last time the question was asked), from 38 to 18 percent. Forty-seven percent said that Calderón's initial strategy was hurried and didn't consider the consequences, while 46 percent said that the issue is merely the inevitable resistance from criminal groups.

With regard to the march, 52 percent said that García Luna's removal would resolve nothing and would only favor criminal groups, while 35 percent said it was the only way to fix the strategy. Sixty-four percent said that the march have little or no effect on Calderón's policies, while 35 percent said that will have a significant impact. Furthermore, just 59 percent of those polled knew of the march, compared to 77 percent who knew of the Iluminemos México protests in 2008.