Carmen Aristegui, considered the most famous newscast journalist in Mexico, once hosted a daily morning radio talk show followed devoutly by millions of middle-class Mexicans. Her personal brand of investigatory journalism was markedly different from the standard of Mexican media: aggressive, probing—if sometimes lacking in reportorial rigor.

Thousands of protesters gathered in the Zocalo of Mexico City, chanting “Fue el Estado”: “It was the State.” As the ornate baroque wood of the Palace, witness to almost four centuries of Mexican politics, was consumed in flames, the protesters’ cries were vindicated. The image created by a few instigators legitimized the protesters’ chant by its dramatic and symbolic force: it seems obvious, almost intuitive: yes, it was the state.

The opposition, seeing that the government will fall if they don’t enter into dialogue with it, has steadfastly refused to settle for anything except its total overthrow, which, through their reticence, it would presumably precipitate.

CPR’s Andrea S. Viejo had the opportunity to converse with Valeria Hamel, one of the student spokespeople of the #YoSoy132 student movement in Mexico advocating for freedom of the press. She gave us insight into the upbringing of this movement and what it was like to organize the first independent student run presidential debate in the history of Mexico.