Stripped of Their Land ... and Underpants

Most days last week hundreds of men and women from this peasant movement stripped off to put pressure on the government to resolve long-running land disputes in the eastern state of Veracruz. Old and young, short and tall, flabby and firm, they have walked through the capital's traffic on a central boulevard collecting donations, splashed in fountains and paraded on horses.

The 400 Villages movement began in the 1960s, although for years its protests were indistinguishable from the thousands of others in the capital every year. Then, in 2002, they decided to get naked. It began with the men stripping down to their underpants. They soon moved on to bare their buttocks and then to bare all. Eventually the women got involved, overcoming heavy layers of traditional modesty. 'It was very difficult at first,' says 40-year-old Judith Romero. 'Now it is just something we do for the struggle.'

The protests received media attention at first, but interest has dwindled. This year the protests have been relegated to notes in traffic reports. Still, the protesters say they have won concessions such as small donations of land.

And perhaps they have also contributed to a wider shift in Mexico's conservative attitudes towards nakedness. Earlier this month the photographer Spencer Tunick, renowned for his pictures of nudes in urban settings, attracted 20,000 volunteers in the Mexican capital. Not that Romero sees much connection. 'They did it for art,' she says. 'We do this because we really are naked. We are stripped of justice.'