San Cristóbal de las Casas.- The mayor of this city, Mariano Díaz Ochoa, ordered the removal in the early hours of this Tuesday, in an operation with the Police, of the candy sales stalls owned by women artisans who had placed them in the corridors of the old town hall located in the historic center, as part of a tradition of this magical town.
When they learned of the operation, some merchants arrived at the corridors of the old town hall and today is the City Museum (Musac), where they saw that their stalls had been removed by dozens of elements of the Municipal Police.
The merchants claimed that they had the permission of the State Council of Cultures and Arts (Coneculta) to temporarily install themselves in the corridors of the Musac, so they were annoyed by the operation that caused losses in their merchandise.
On the verge of tears, the merchants reproached the police for having taken them out of the corridors of the Musac without prior notice, since they had authorization from the state authorities to sell their products as part of the new year.
Traditionally, women candy sellers have been accustomed to installing themselves for a few hours in the corridors of the old town hall, mainly in the new year and on Corpus Christi day, in June.
The merchants asked that they be paid for the damages caused by the agents of the Police during the operation this morning. Some relatives of the sellers had some altercations with the commanders who led the operation, but it did not go any further.
Sweets and some utensils had been left on the floor, as a result of the Police operation.
On Tuesday morning, when it became known that the mayor Mariano Díaz Ochoa, who is in charge of the town hall for the third time, presided over an ordinary session of the council, they came to face him and tell him that since December they had “permits” to be able to sell in the corridors of the Museum, but the municipal president argued that it was not true. “Don’t be a liar,” he shouted at a merchant.
As he left, Díaz Ochoa responded violently and aggressively. “They come to me to insult me,” he said to the women, but they replied that he was a “misogynist”, “violent” and “macho”.
On December 15, the Institute of Elections and Citizen Participation (IEPC) sanctioned Díaz Ochoa for political violence against women.
It all started in September of last year, when Díaz Ochoa ordered to take away the power to sign checks for works, expenses and others, from the trustee Victoria Ruiz Olvera, an act that was endorsed by the councilors, so the treasurer had to comply with the decision of the municipal president.
As a consequence, Ruiz Olvera denounced this fact and it was on December 15 that the IEPC sanctioned the mayor Díaz Ochoa and councilors for political violence against women. Their names were inscribed on a registry as violators of political rights against women and asked them to take workshops to eradicate violence against women.
Source: El Universal
