Hundreds Protest Mexico City 'Reconstruction' Law

Hundreds of those those affected by the Mexico City Sept. 19 earthquake are protesting the city’s Reconstruction, Recuperation and Transformation of Mexico City Law, passed yesterday by the city’s Assembly. 

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Protesters blocked off parts of the city yesterday, saying their demands are not being taken into account within the law. Their main complaint is that the city is offering credits rather than subsidies to reconstruct their homes after the earthquake.

The law, which was passed with 35 votes in favor and 17 against, was opposed by the Morena Party, which promotes an anti-corruption and impunity platform. Morena lawmakers said the law doesn’t sufficiently help those who need to rebuild or fix parts of their homes that were significantly damaged during the quake. Some Morena legislators formed part of the commission that wrote and presented the original bill. 

Mauricio Toledo, president of the commission, said the new law is “historic” for the city and the country as it will enable coordination among various local and national agencies.

This was the fourth time the bill had come up for a vote.

The law promotes “transparency” in the use of “public resources” in order to “reconstruct affected homes ... schools, sewer systems and other infrastructure” damaged by the quake.

According to the Assembly, these built environments will be constructed “under a new urban system ... aimed to resolve problems and guarantee safety.”  They added that the implementation of the law will also “socially and economically recuperate Mexico City.”

Similar protests occurred Nov. 19 in Mexico City as quake victims held signs that read, “no to credits” and “corrupt and inept.” They were also protesting against the local and national government's slow response to fixing infrastructure damaged by the quake.

They said they are being taken advantage of by government agencies that are only offering affected residents credits and loans to rebuild, rather than being able to access existing government funds created for such disasters.

One protesters said, “We don’t want (bank) credits. We already paid into the system."