A tense morning was lived this Tuesday in the neighborhood of Balvanera, in the capital of Argentina.
spoiler-alert
For the bday bash pics just scroll down
The day began with an operation ordered by the Attorney General of the City to prevent the installation of illegal street vendors in the Once area, typical activity in the area for years. After the procedure, the illegal street vendors led by a negotiator that defends the activity & goes by the name of “Chipi”, real name Rodrigo, in which I found strange seeing he says he represents the workers yet we don’t know who he responds too.. Any ways they went to discuss the decision being made to arrive at a medium, seeing it’s their only means to provide for their families. After the conversation, in which clearly didn’t go well the group of vendors led by a few guys decided to block an important intersection in the area- Rivadavia Avenue & the Pueyrredon Avenue and a 4 block radius moving to and from.
The operation lasted for more than three hours, while representatives of the Buenos Aires government sought to reach an agreement with informal traders, by informal I mean that they aren’t registered in any way, shape or form to commercialize products. The intention of the cities government is to census & register each one of the sellers and to transfer them to another place so that they can work, off the street to also promote a safer way for pedestrians to maneuver on the side-walk. Unfortunately, that proposal was not accepted.
Around 11.30, the Infantry Guard advanced towards Pueyrredón Avenue and also Mitre. The vendors responded by throwing stones, rubble and other projectiles: several people were injured & some were arrested after the incident.
After that first police action, the unregistered merchants resisted for a few minutes at the crossing of Mite and Castelli and set fire to a few garbage containers. A fire hydrant truck managed to put out the fire.
Apparently the police force mentioned “We have the order to go against the illegal sale and abuse of public space." The officer explained that the local administration offers to keep them registered in a census. "We will give them the possibility of taking out the social monotribute (A simplified regimen to register any commercial activity), advance in a future dialogue so that they can exercise the sale properly, without occupying the public space," & also making clear that "We want to dialogue with people who act in good faith, we will not dialogue with organizations or violent people,"
HD Images at the following link : http://hd.clarin.com/tagged/manteros
From 2 o'clock onwards, the City Police, Infantry and local inspectors worked to evict the vendors that during the night settled in Pueyrredón, from Rivadavia to Corrientes. Dozens of police officers, assault cars and fire hydrants began to collect the area during the first hours of the day. According to official sources, approximately 50-80 positions were retired.
Now the fact is these vendors were never authorized to settle in the walkway, yet many pay a fee or rent to the police force that used to be in charge of the area to sell their products on the sidewalk of Pueyrredón Avenue. With the recent change in government and the unification of three forces at a national level this situation changed and now argued that "The only way to be there was to co-ordinate the Police, we have a new Police today & the sidewalks are made to circulate, not to trade. There is a lot of clandestine and illegal activity and this has to end."
The funny situation occurred when a reporter asked the famous informal leader “ Chipi” right before the meeting with the government “Chipi, what do you sell?” to his ironic response saying “What I sell is relative” quoting a Nobel prize winner.. Anyways he left in custody of 22 police officers protecting him to go dialogue with the city representatives.
Now with times and circumstances changing ever so fast what possible solution can they arrive at that can make a lasting impact to actually help these people? Do these people want the help?
It's a very delicate matter and I think the discussion can last hours once you dive into details, but leave an opinion below if you have anything to add. Hearing and gathering opinions from a global platform is very interesting.
Continuing on to another matter, here are some pics from my dogs 1st bday. Woooooo
All credit for images and certain information are referrenced from the following articles.
http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/desalojo-tension-once-levantaron-mil-puestos-manteros-cortan-calle_0_HygFVHMUg.html
http://www.infobae.com/sociedad/2017/01/10/tension-en-once-manteros-desalojados-cortan-la-calle/
If you enjoyed the post, please upvote and hit follow if you're interested in similar entries.
Upvoting and resteeming is motivating & appreciative, hope I've earned yours!