How should Mexico combat the "incredulity and distrust" that President Enrique Pena Nieto himself admits has swept the country? Answers on a postcard, please.
More than 8,000 people have done just that. In a campaign launched by civil society groups in November, Mexicans have vented their frustration with the ruling classes by sending in their own proposals for reforming the country. They will make uncomfortable reading for the government.
Many of the anonymous suggestions - printed up on postcards and laid out on the ground in front of Mexico City's Monument to the Revolution on Tuesday - called for massive pay cuts for public servants. One suggested legislators should earn 10 times the minimum wage, which now averages around 68.3 pesos ($4.6) per day "because it should be an honour to serve, not an excuse to steal".
A typical sentiment urged "zero tolerance for corruption"; others called for less bureaucracy, far fewer legislators, better education, and better policing.
"These proposals reflect what we don't have today in Mexico," said Baltimore Beltan, a member of El Grito Mas Fuerte, an advocacy group and part of the campaign.
The apparent murder of 43 students by a drug gang allegedly working in cahoots with police in the western state of Guerrero in September and a wave of high-profile corruption scandals has knocked public faith in Mr Pena Nieto's government.
His administration had got off to a blistering start, passing nearly a dozen structural reforms in less than two years to try to boost Mexico's long-term growth and prosperity, including a bold energy reform and sweeping changes to telecoms oligopolies.
But he looked out of touch over his slow response to the students' disappearance and was cornered by allegations of crony capitalism in connection with a luxury family mansion - an embarrassment that was compounded when it emerged that his finance minister had also bought a property from the same government contractor.
An outpouring of disgust led to a series of protest marches across the country. But what really crystallised many Mexicans' anger against the governmnent was a gaffe by the then attorney-general Jesus Murillo Karam, at the end of a news conference in November detailing how investigators believed the students died, when he announced: "Enough, I'm tired."
That remark was the genesis for the postcard campaign, under the banner: "Enough, I'm tired. That's why I'm proposing".
Organisers presented the findings of the Answers on a Postcard campaign to government officials and hope to display the proposals at an exhibition in Congress.
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FOLLOW USΑκολουθήστε τη σελίδα του Euro2day.gr στο LinkedinThe campaign is now urging Mexicans to unite round 10 main "battles" that emerged as citizens' top concerns. They are: to ensure the soon-to-be-created anti-corruption prosecutor's office is really independent; to remove immunity from prosecution for politicians; to reduce public servants' pay; to reduce public electoral financing; police reform; to pursue forced disappearances; to cut the number of legislators not directly elected; to create citizen oversight of public services; to boost education, culture and health services; and to raise the minimum wage.
Some of those - notably the proposed anti-corruption system to improve Mexico's flawed rule of law and a police reform - chime with Mr Pena Nieto's own plans. He has also proposed the creation of special economic areas in some key poor southern areas; austerity in public spending; and to press ahead on implementing the reforms.
"Of course we get it," he told the Financial Times last week, echoing criticism that the government was blithely unaware of popular concerns. But many of his plans, designed to beef up accountability and fight ingrained corruption, will take time.
Alfredo Martinez, a retired health ministry worker passing by the postcard display on his bicycle, scoffed at the notion that the proposals would get through to the government. The political class he said, "don't listen. They steal".
With nearly four years remaining of his government, Mr Pena Nieto has no time to waste. One of the most direct postcards read: "I am tired of my children thinking their country is shit."
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