Michoacán Government Adviser’s Facebook Post Calls for Burning of Schools and Student Protesters

Oct 17, 2012
4:47 PM

In yet another example of how not to behave on social networks, the Facebook page of Christian Santiago Tapia—an adviser to the government of Michoacán, Mexico, and, according to reports, the social media manager of Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, Michoacán's governor—called for the burning of the teaching colleges where student protesters have been demonstrating against curriculum changes in the Mexican state.

Here is what Santiago Tapia posted on Facebook in Spanish.

His first post refers to the "normales," which is a Mexican term describing the teacher colleges that the students are attending. In his first post, Santiago Tapia says: "Let's burn the "normales," because we need to protest the fact that there are no pastries in stores." After a few Facebook friends laugh at his comment, Santiago Tapia then posted the following: "Hahaha, yes!! But you know, they are just fucking with us. Here's what, no matter what they protest, well, let's just burn these ABNORMAL "normales" Hahaha."

We are wondering if he has seen images that are going viral this week (according to sources, this image is allegedly from 2011, but has now become a social media symbol of the Michoacán protests).

In addition, Santiago Tapia also tweeted his thoughts on his Twitter page (UPDATE: his profile has either blocked us or has been deleted from Twitter) around the same time that he posted his thoughts on Facebook. With the logo of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) proudly displayed on on his profile, Santiago Tapia had no problem calling the schools and protesters "pendejos" and "cowards." We understand that people have the right to their own opinions, but when you work for the government that is abusing protesters, well, that is a different story.