Leftist Mayor expels 15000 street vendors from central plaza

I think it's safe to say that most here view the illegal, non tax-paying vendors as a nuisance and would have no real problem with seeing them disappear. However, the Mexican people and those in power know full well that without the illegal street vendors and others like them, social frustrations would sooner or later drive people to revolution. Knowing this, the government normally turns a blind eye and lets the vendors be.

The bizarre, unspoken agreement that exists between the State and the vendors was disrupted Friday morning when Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard had 1200 city cops march into the city's center, or Zocalo, and forcibly remove the more than 15000 street vendors that normally reside there. A day earlier a tentative agreement had been reached between city officials and representatives of the vendors, allowing the operation to be carried out relatively incident-free. While they have agreed to temporarily stay clear of the city center, vendors have vowed to return unless they're given a viable alternative for making a living.

The vendors, who spread their wares on sidewalk blankets and makeshift stalls near buildings adorned with Diego Rivera murals, said they agreed to leave but will return unless the city allows them to set up in the square during festivals and unless they are able to survive at a new location.

The crackdown marks the latest attempt to remove or control the sellers, whose roots predate the fall of Mexico City to Spanish conquerors in 1521. The clash is also emblematic of Mexico's challenge to transform informal merchants, who may represent as much as 50 percent of total retail activity, into tax-paying businesspeople.

"It won't work," said Juana Parada Flores earlier this week as she set out on the sidewalk an assortment of chocolate, peanuts and candy made from tamarind fruit. "They can move us temporarily, but they will never stop us from selling or from coming back."

As I've had the unfortunate honor of spending nearly an hour trying to wiggle my way through less than four blocks of the vendor-clogged streets surrounding the Zocalo, I totally sympathize with the Mayor in wanting to free up some much needed public space. Besides just making the city a more enjoyable place to live, clearing the streets would invite legitimate, tax-paying merchants to set up shop. As the article points out, Mexico is in need of few greater things than a means of welcoming members of the black market into the formal economy. However, this can't be achieved over night, and many worry that if it's even attempted, the millions that now rely on running uncertified businesses would be left even worse off then before and be more inclined to taking part in a social revolution. Yesterday's protest, drawing thousands eager to express their opposition to the Mayor's decision, could be an early sign of the more intense public unrest that is to come.

If a move as brave as this could actually be pulled off, it could send a message to the national government that the only real solution to its economic troubles has to be to offer Mexico's poorest a means of legitimately moving up in society. However, this will only happen if instead of just relocating vendors to less public places, the government provides them with real alternatives for making ends meet. It is a thin line that must be walked between supporting those who have been able to enter the market through legal channels and not abandoning those who show an interest in doing the same. Only time will tell if Mayor Ebrard is up to the challenge.