2008 Sandra C. Mendiola García ALL RIGHTS RESERVED STREET VENDORS, MARKETERS, AND POLITICS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY PUEBLA, MEXICO by SANDRA C. MENDIOLA GARCÍA A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Mark Wasserman and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2008 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Street Vendors, Marketers, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Puebla, Mexico By SANDRA C. MENDIOLA GARCÍA Dissertation Director: Mark Wasserman This dissertation examines the business and political organizing of street vendors and marketers in Puebla, one of Mexico’s largest cities, during the twentieth-century. Paying special attention to female sellers, who constituted a large majority of the street vending population, this work explores the challenges that they faced when they tried to sell their merchandise in the city’s public areas. Established store keepers, municipal inspectors, and the police constantly sought to remove street vendors from Puebla’s downtown. Street vendors responded by organizing the Popular Union of Street Vendors (UPVA) in 1973. This militant and independent organization emerged during the height of left-wing student activism. The vendors’ union played an active part in grass-roots politics in the aftermath of the 1968 uprising in Mexico City. The UPVA was organized in part by students, many of whom identified themselves as Maoists, and by female vendors. Women were tough and militant, willing to do practically anything to defend their rights to sell on the streets and care for their families. Several female vendors destroyed police cars and engaged in ii fights with authorities. They were also skilled negotiators and delivered speeches in front of hundreds of vendors. Street vendors were political actors who petitioned and organized to defend their economic rights and after the 1970s, participated in a larger movement that carried out struggles for better conditions outside the structure of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, the state was relentless in its effort to destroy the vendors’ union. The UPVA remained a militant, independent organization despite state violence against its members. iii Acknowledgements My deepest appreciation goes to all the archivists who helped find every possible record about vendors and marketers. I especially want to thank María Aurelia Hernández, Rubén Goque, and Alejandro Pérez. They make the Archivo Municipal de Puebla at the Centro Histórico a wonderful and fun place to conduct research. They were tremendously helpful and opened their hearts to me. At the other Archivo Municipal de Puebla (32 Poniente), I would like to thank Rocío del Carmen Hernández, Felicitas Ocampo, and all the staff members who keep the archive running. They are all wonderful and hardworking women who took care of me. At the Archivo General del Estado de Puebla, I want to thank historian Pilar Pacheco. Special thanks go to Mexican historian Mariano Torres Bautista. He introduced me to a former UPVA leader, Doña Rosa. From that connection, I was able to establish additional links with a number of street vendors and participants in the street vendors’ union. My oral interviews would not have been the same without the selfless support of José Luis Díaz Miñon. I cannot thank him enough. He spent endless hours talking with me, helping me find former vendors in Puebla, and cheering me up. We talked about every single problem in Mexico and how to solve it. We drank a lot of coffee and he smoked many cigarettes. I was also fortunate to meet a number of people who in the early 1970s studied at the Preparatorias Populares and then joined the UAP. I thank all the street and market vendors who described their lives in interviews. I met many incredible women. They shared their memories, documents, and photographs iv with me. Working conditions have not been easy for them but they have lived proud and dignified lives. Muchas gracias señoras. I want to thank a number of professors who have helped me throughout the years. In the late 1990s, Jeffrey Bortz introduced me to history and archival research. He encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree in history. Temma Kaplan is a source of inspiration. She is an excellent historian, a wonderful professor, and a passionate activist. She has forced me to become a better historian and writer. Gail Triner has always been available, and her encouragement and advice helped me during my most difficult times in graduate school. She is a sharp thinker and I have learned much from her. Aldo Lauria Santiago gave me the chance to teach at the Latino Studies Department at Rutgers while providing me with office space and financial support when funds were scarce. At conferences, I would like to recognize Jocelyn Olcott, Greg Crider, and Erica Armstrong Dunbar for giving me highly useful comments. Jeffrey Pilcher has also provided great advice. He proposed ideas and recommended readings that I would not have thought of otherwise. Special thanks go to Mark Wasserman. He has supported all I have done in my graduate years at Rutgers. I could always rely on him. He was a supportive, wise, and warm advisor. His comments, advice, and criticisms helped me clarify my ideas. I have also enjoyed his sense of humor. Dawn Ruskai, Candace Walcott-Shepherd, Robin Chapdelaine, Tim Alves, and Sarah O’Meara deserve my appreciation for all the important administrative work. At Rutgers, I learned so much from discussions with my good friends and fellow historians Greg Swedberg and Robert Alegre. I have also benefited from conversations v and electronic correspondence with Gareth Jones, Elsa Herrera, Louise Walker, and Andrew Paxman. My fellow graduate students have made my life and research so much better: Terry Younghwa, Jennifer Miller, Laurie Marhoefer, Emily Westkaemper, Iben Trino-Molenkamp, Meghan Lau, Rachel Schnepper, Amy Tims, Steven Allen, Young-In Oh, Hsiao-Pei Yen, and Kwinn Doran. While doing research in Puebla’s archives, I met two historians: Rosa María García Juárez and Janette Gayosso del Valle. We shared the same table at the archive, took breaks together, and as the days went by, became close friends. I feel very lucky to have met them. Rosa María used to live very close to the hospital where my father died while I was doing research. She opened her apartment to me when I needed it the most. I will never forget her help during those days. Gracias amiga. While he was alive, my father supported me unconditionally. Serafín Mendiola worked since age six and only finished elementary school. He was proud that I was completing a doctorate. Both my parents grew up in poverty and taught me to be sensitive to people’s economic struggles. I also thank my mother Celia García for all she has done for me. She is a strong, hardworking, and caring woman. My brother Juan Manuel and his daughters Ileana and Ximena have provided lots of happiness. Lastly, I want to thank my best friend, fellow historian, and husband, Chad Pearson. He has read every word I have written and has enthusiastically discussed all aspects of my research. He has taught me much about US history, historians, and historiography. I thank him for his love, support, and companionship. vi Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………….……. ii Acknowledgements ………………………………………………..…………………… iii Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………….…….. vii List of Illustrations………………………………………………………..……………. viii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter One Street Vendors, Marketers, City Dwellers, and Authorities during the First Half of the Twentieth Century ……...…………………………………………………………........ 17 Chapter Two Taking Children to Work: Vendors’ Labors on the Streets ……………………………. 54 Chapter Three The Emergence of a long-lasting Alliance: Street Vendors and Students, 1964-1973 … 94 Chapter Four “Unidos, Organizados y Luchando Venceremos”: The Street Vendors’ Union …....... 137 Chapter Five The Repression of the Vendors …………………………………………………..…… 186 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………. 237 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………...... 244 Curriculum Vita ………………………………………………………………………. 256 vii List of Illustrations Letter from P. Richaud to Municipal Authorities, December 18, 1913 ………………... 25 Puebla’s downtown streets before and after the 1959 removal ……………………..…. 40 Mercado El Alto circa 1946 …………………….……………………………………… 42 Stall design, circa 1946 ………………………………………………………………… 43 Fee collector, Administración Cué Merlo 1975-1978 …………………………………. 67 Stall, Administración Cué Merlo, 1975-1978 …………………………………………. 75 Recogedores de Canastas , Administración Cué Merlo, 1975-1978 …………..……….. 85 Los Vendedores Ambulantes, documentary scene …………………………………..... 126 Acarreados, El Sol de Puebla , October 22, 1973 ………...………………………….. 144 Stalls in El Corralón, El Sol de Puebla , May 23, 1974 ……………………………….. 158 UPVA logo …………………...………………………………………………………. 163 Rubén Sarabia Sánchez (aka Simitrio) with a group of vendors …………………..…. 183 Oscar Vega Rosales in La Opinión, November 1, 1977 ……………………………… 196 viii 1 Introduction Street vendors are part of the informal economy, which is the fastest growing “sector” in many parts of the globe. 1 According to the United Nations, since the 1980s, two-fifths of the