During the past presidential campaign in Mexico, sitting president Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) quipped that it was “paradoxical that while in many other countries, protests take place against the government in power, in Mexico they are aimed at other actors.” He was referring to the “#YoSoy132” student movement and its targeting of Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) — then a candidate, and as of December 1st the country’s new president.

Calderón had a point. But he was gravely missing the picture.

In a country where well over 40% of the population is poor, and over 10% live in extreme poverty, young mostly middle-class sectors do not appear to be the most vulnerable group. So why is it that students — initially from a private university — are spearheading protests?