Police Kick Vendors Out of Oaxaca Zocalo
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010Wondering around in the Zocolo (plaza) Monday, my friend Paula, who has lived here before, was approached by some young girls with a questionaire for tourists and asked if she had been to the Guelaguetza…or if she had been to see the reenactment of the Princess Donaji legend or any other official related event of which she had attended none.
But she announced that she HAD been in the Zocolo that morning when the Municipal Police ignominiously strutted in with their flak jackets, shields and rifles to throw the street vendors out, releasing tear gas, injuring four, detaining eight (mostly local hippie looking jewelry-makers who were standing up for the rest of the vendors who are mostly indigenous people from the mountains) and sending tourists and locals alike into a frightened flurry to get out of the way.
It is not clear whether the vendors had a permiso to be in the zocalo but this is not the first time they have been thrown out over the years. Maybe they didn’t pay their mordida (bribe to the city)? This happened at the same time that the out-going Governor was giving his welcoming speech at the Guelaguetza so I guess he figured most of the tourists wouldn’t witness what was happening in the zocalo.
Zoe