In the Venustiano Carranza borough of Mexico City, fear is turning into collective rage.
A banner proclaims their exasperation: together, they bought a neighborhood alarm system, ready to take to the streets en masse against thieves.
“We’re fed up with extortion, protection rackets, and shootings,” say anonymous shopkeepers.
There are C5 surveillance cameras just a few meters away, but the authorities remain absent.
The residents of this district claim to be fed up with the groups of organized crime that are constantly threatening and harassing them, demanding protection fees (derecho de piso) from literally each and every business in the neighborhood, from taco stands to hardware stores, beauty salons, pharmacies, restaurants, or grocery stores, no exception whatsoever.
The mayor of Venustiano Carranza for the 2024-2027 term is Evelyn Parra Álvarez, of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party. Re-elected in 2024, her term ends in 2027, and she has ignored the citizens’ demands.
Residents of the borough themselves express their dissatisfaction with the current administration’s performance and say they have requested a meeting with the mayor, but have been denied access, and their complaints have gone unheard by the authorities, who should be addressing the security problems.
Dozens of businesses have had to close their doors in Venustiano Carranza because their establishments have been shot at and they have been subjected to increasingly higher extortion payments.
The citizens have banded together and installed a neighborhood watch alarm system to confront the criminals if necessary.
Some residents, speaking anonymously, stated that many believe the Venustiano Carranza government is colluding with these organized crime groups, and that officials (including Evelyn Parra) are taking a cut of the extortion payments.
Source: FIA
