Mérida street vendors are back in Centro

Mérida, Yucatán, (April 07, 2021).- After more than a year of waiting and pressuring the mayor of Mérida, the merchants reached an agreement to return to the Plaza Grande.

Finally, street vendors of different products will return to the surroundings of the Plaza Grande de Mérida. The leader of the merchants, Carlos Ojeda Estrada, reported that after numerous mobilizations and threaten to go to protest during the registration of the mayor of Mérida, Renán Barrera, they managed to deal a “staggered” scheme with the authorities.

The leader of the vendors, Ojeda Estrada, pointed out that, since November 2020, the municipal authorities have not allowed street regional snacks and food vendors to work on the streets of Centro, where they have been working uninterruptedly for years.

He remarked that at the end of the year prior to the date, they have made 25 mobilizations in front of the Municipal Palace of Mérida to demand their right to work, and finally, their demands were heard.

He said that they were systematically promised dialogue, but in the end, it never happened. He also added that it was when they threatened to go out to protest on Sunday, during the mayor’s registration as the candidate of the National Action Party (PAN) for the municipal presidency of the state capital, when they were heard.

Ojeda Estrada pointed out that the agreement they reached with the municipal authorities was that merchants can work on weekends, similar to how the artisans of the Mérida program do on Sundays, that is, interspersing the days.

Of course, the leader of the bidders indicated that those who sell food still will not be able to go out to offer their food, until the Epidemiological Traffic Light turns yellow.

“We have already taken a big step, now it is time to respect the healthy distance, the application of the gel, and other measures so that our colleagues who were unemployed for more than a year, can have a few cents in their pockets,” he said.

Likewise, Ojeda Estrada announced that at the beginning of next week they will have a meeting with the municipal official, Alejandro Ruz Castro, to continue with the dialogue about how street vendors will operate in the “new normal”.

He explained that the indication of Municipal Civil Protection at the moment is that merchants cannot install themselves in front of the Municipal Palace so they will be in search of other spaces in those surroundings.

He stated that the 34 vendors who are dedicated to this activity are now allowed back in Centro.

Finally, Ojeda Estrada said he is optimistic that eventually the colleagues who dedicate to sell snacks and food in Centro will be back working again so they can support their families.