Mexican Tycoon Carlos Slim Taunted by Kazoos at New York Public Library Crayton Harrison - Bloomberg News
go to original May 11, 2013

Carlos Slim's Visit to NYPL (Akram Ayyash)

After a group of protesters denounced Carlos Slim and marched out of the room playing Darth Vader’s theme song on kazoos, a companion of the Mexican billionaire smiled at him and said, “Welcome to New York.”

“It’s not just New York,” replied Slim, who was giving a talk in Manhattan when the protest erupted.

The protests are loosely organized by a group of Latino political organizations that say they’re self-funded and unconnected with Slim’s competitors in Mexico. They’re planning more events - including one later this month in Las Vegas - to spread their message that Slim has overcharged Mexican consumers to enrich himself, an accusation the billionaire denies.

At the library, where Slim was speaking about digital education as part of a lecture series, protesters drowned out his comments with laughter, then stood up and shouted that his charitable giving was a joke. They tossed fake bills around the room that said “$73 billion” - Slim’s estimated wealth. (It’s now $73.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.) Then they began playing the “Imperial Death March” from the “Star Wars” films as they filed out.

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