In May of 2004, the "3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union" was held in Guadalajara, Mexico. Simultaneously, civil society organizations met in the same city, where they carried out several activities, among them, a unitary pacific demonstration that resulted in several riots. This paper shows the Mexican government's efforts to criminalise the social altermundista movement; as well as the role played by the Catholic Church, the entrepreneurial upper elite and local media. Despite the electoral legitimacy discourse and the political re-democratization, there are some signs of returning to authoritarianism but also a return to the struggle for defence and the widening of civil rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]