Caracas Daily Journal (Vincent Bevins): Anyone taking a stroll through any part of the Libertador municipality, which makes up most of the center of the capital, cannot avoid noticing a striking change in the streets. That is, there are no buhoneros.
Buhoneros, or street merchants which used to sell goods ranging from hot dogs to clothing to basic food supplies, have virtually disappeared in Libertador. That is the result of an intentional campaign on the part of Freddy Bernal, the Chávez-aligned mayor of the municipality.
The campaign has been controversial, and difficult. On Friday night a small crowd gathered near Plaza Venezuela to watch the National Guard haul away a hot dog stand. There is the obvious question of how the street vendors will earn a living tomorrow. They have been promised spaces to continue their operations, regulated and legally. These have materialized in the past, such as the "Popular Market" near La Hoyada metro station, but the displacements this time have been massive and new spaces are still awaited to accommodate the merchants.
The campaign, in the words of Hugo Prieto, who conducted an Ultimas Noticias interview with Bernal, has "recuperated public spaces that should have never been colonized by the private sector, call it the informal economy, or what you wish."
It is impossible to deny that space has been opened up. Some streets were so crowded that one was forced at times to walk in the street. But the arguments for integrating the formal economy into the formal extend further than the battle for space. Having a large percent of the economy which is not regulated, which does not pay taxes, and which does not pay rent poses obvious problems for the state, not to the mention their competitors in the formal market which are forced to bear these costs.
The most famous case of street-clearing took place in the last few years in the Bulevar de Sabana Grande.
According to Bernal, a year after the buhoneros were dispersed, "Sabana Grande is lit, danger, according to Cicpc has dropped 64%, it is clean, sales in the legal shops there rose 35-40%, and the people again have occupied those public spaces."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Administrative, bureaucratic measures -- that is, brute force -- should not have had to be used for most of this. This is Bad Form, here. It's lazy, after-the-fact planning, and it's about maintaining the bureaucratic status quo, really. These people should have been approached a couple of years ago and organized with the rest of the community to get them into proper new markets, or other lines of work, etc. Using typical police methods to 'clean the streets' only maintains the power of the bureaucracy and creates hardship and resentment -- which will be directed against the government and the Revolution.
ReplyDeleteThis was a lousy solution, whatever benefits come out of it. Way to go Bernal, you lousy mayor. I'd never vote for you -- and I hope a better system replaces you and your type ASAP.