Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > February > 16 > Entry
The crackdown
The Tepito neighborhood has long had a bad reputation, mostly because it houses the country’s biggest market of bootlegged and stolen goods. Along with pirated DVDs though, the Tepito market is also known as a place to find drugs and guns.
For years, Mexico City has tolerated the situation, mostly, many say, because the street vendors are extremely well-organized and a potent political force come election season.
On Tuesday, the city government stepped into Tepito, kind of. Officials did not target the market, but rather a nearby apartment complex they say is a den of drug and pirated DVD activity. The government is taking the drastic step of expropriating the building and evicting residents. The government plans to turn the complex into a drug rehab or cultural center.
Residents will be indemnified, but only if they can prove they own an apartment. Understandably, the action has created an uproar in Tepito, where residents have taken to the streets in what promises to be a nasty fight.
The Tepito situation only highlights a looming problem: Lacking decent jobs, Mexico has turned a blind eye to perhaps millions of street vendors, many of whom sell pirated goods such as movies and compact discs. The day that the government attempts to confront the situation will surely be a bloody one, if it ever comes.
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