Street Vendors
Continue To
Terrorize
Downtown
Merchants
For the second
day in a row,
merchants along
the boulevard
and other
avenidas in
downtown San
José were
terrorized by
street vendors,
who are
protesting the
actions of the
municipality to
allow them to
sell their
wares.
And again for a
second day,
although without
an form
organization, a
group of vendors
forced many
merchants to
shut their doors
in fear of being
vandalized.
The merchants
are denouncing
the inaction of
the police to
control the
situation.
Yesterday's
action by the
street vendors
occurred around
4pm, while on
Wednesday the
action began at
noon and
continued for
the better part
of the
afternoon.
The protests are
a result of the
tough action by
the municipal
police who
issued some 400
tickets to
street vendors
between Monday
and Tuesday of
this week.
In addition to
the tickets,
police
confiscated
merchandise
ranging from
pirated CD's to
crates full of
fruits and
vegetables.
Speaking for the
municipality,
Rafael Arias
said that the
police action is
part of a plan
to "clean up"
the downtown
core and said
the action will
continue, the
municipality
will not bow
down to the
demands of the
street vendors.
The
Municipalidad de
San José ran
almost decade
long battle to
rid the streets
of the downtown
core for vendor
stands that
blocked many of
the sidewalks
along the
downtown area
and also the
cause traffic
congestion.
Following years
of confrontation
between police,
vendors and
actions in
court, the
municipality was
finally able to
rid of all the
impromptu stands
and clear the
sidewalks again.
What is
happening today
is much of what
happened then,
save that the
street vendors
set up shop on a
piece of plastic
or bed sheet to
hawk their ware
from the
sidewalk floors.
The situation at
times is so that
there isn't room
on the
boulevards or
sidewalks for
pedestrians,
vendors only
moving at the
presence of
municipal
police.
However, the
action of the
last couple of
days has turned
violent.
In addition to
terrorizing
merchants with
threats of
vandalism,
vendors have
pelted police
cars with rocks
and physical
confrontation
with police.
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