Tepic: Youth protesting the demolition of the City of the Arts report police harassment.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, June 14, 2025, p. 5

Tepic. Young people protesting the demolition of the City of Arts in Tepic reported that state security forces patrolled the area Thursday night and used a drone to intimidate them.

They stated that they will file a complaint with the municipal, state, and national human rights authorities. "We have free movement and the right to protest; it's enshrined in the Constitution. We won't give up ," stated Isaac Cárdenas, a member of the group.

He added that none of them fell for the provocations, even though an officer touched one of his colleagues, who was filming with a cell phone, to get her away from the scene.

A fire had previously broken out inside the space, which was put out by Civil Protection personnel and Tepic firefighters.

Activists distanced themselves from the incident, saying the smell emanating from the blaze was similar to gunpowder.

Yesterday, federal representative Andrea Navarro and senator Pável Jarero, both Morena members, called for guarantees for the protesters' safety and transparency regarding what happened Thursday night.

The youth continued their ongoing protest this Friday, in addition to collecting signatures to stop the total destruction of the building located in the Estadios neighborhood in the capital of Nayarit.

For her part, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo declared yesterday at her morning press conference that there must be dialogue and that cultural spaces must continue to exist .

The governor asked the governor of Nayarit, Miguel Ángel Navarro, to prioritize communication with the cultural sector in response to the demand that artists and activists have maintained for more than 13 days for the restoration of the cultural complex.