A MART脥NEZ, HOST:
Since Donald Trump took office, Mexico has been a constant target of threats of potential military action and of new tariffs. Mexico's president has called for cooler heads to prevail. Yesterday, she called for a rally in the center of Mexico City, and some 350,000 people showed up. Here's NPR's Eyder Peralta.
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EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: On Sunday, the streets of Mexico City are completely packed. On T-shirts and placards, demonstrators say they are here to defend their country. Yesenia Guillen - who is 30 - came with a group of friends to tell President Claudia Sheinbaum that she is not alone. President Trump, she said, should take note.
YESENIA GUILLEN: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "If he wants to see a divided Mexico," she said, "he's mistaken because we're a strong, dignified country." Sheinbaum called Mexicans to the streets right after President Trump slapped all Mexican exports with a 25% tariff. She said she would unveil retaliatory measures at this rally. But two days later, Trump suspended the tariffs, and Sheinbaum told Mexicans to come out anyway.
MARIA DE LA LUZ RIVERA MENDOZA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: Maria de la Luz Rivera Mendoza - a 58-year-old lawyer - says, "Mexicans are pacifists. We're respectful, but we can also be angry." She says she came here to tell her president that if she needs her, she's ready for battle.
DE LA LUZ RIVERA MENDOZA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "I'll do anything," she said, "to defend my country."
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in Spanish).
PERALTA: President Sheinbaum has called on Mexicans to keep a cool head to avoid antagonism. So here, there are no anti-American slogans, no effigies of Trump.
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PERALTA: And as President Sheinbaum takes the stage, she remains ever the diplomat. Yes, we remember, she says, the U.S. has invaded our country twice, but we choose to focus on the positive.
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PRESIDENT CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Fortunately," she says, "dialogue and respect between our nations has prevailed."
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PERALTA: And on this Sunday at least, celebration triumphs over belligerence.
Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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