The Mexican demonstrations against the fuel price increase left a dead police, 250 looted stores and more than 500 detainees. In addition, new demonstrations and blockades were performed after a night full of fear of further vandalism.
Police in Mexico City reported that the officer died after being hit by a car for preventing a robbery at a gas station. Furthermore, there is another seriously-injured officer in a different incident.
There was a smaller looting in a mall and there were at least three demonstrations and two other protests on January 5th.
In Ecatepec, a suburb of the capital, at least six small businesses were looted on January 4th.
Furthermore, a hundred demonstrators tried to reach the presidential residence to express their rejection to the “gasolinazo”, but a police blockade prevented them from reaching their destination.
President Peña Nieto declared that he understands “the annoyance and the anger” due to the rise on the fuel prices, but, according to him, it was necessary to maintain the economic stability and it is a consequence of the rise in the international prices.
The new prices, the largest in years, came into force on January 1st: gasoline had an increase of 20.1% and diesel had an increase of 16.5%.
Businessmen, traders and authorities declared at a joint news conference that the wave of fear erupted based on rumors of alleged looting.
Security secretary Hiram Almeida reported that they detected more than 200 Twitter accounts that spread fallacious situations and that only wanted to cause instability.
Manuel Cardona, director of the National Association of Self-Service and Department Stores, told Radio Fórmula that about 250 stores were looted in the capital, Estado de México, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Veracruz, Tabasco and Quintana Roo.
Cardona urged the federal forces, if necessary the Army, to intervene because the situation, in his opinion, is out of control.
The police have deployed 9,000 additional officers to those who daily monitor the capital. They rely on 13 helicopters and 20,000 video surveillance cameras.