Mexicans hit in the pocket by crisis

Photo / AP

Twiddling his thumbs, and twirling one of Mexico City's most extravagant moustaches, Adan Tellez spent yesterday at his closed "tortas" stand, wondering how, exactly, he will survive the spiralling crisis that has emptied the once-busy streets and suddenly robbed him of his livelihood.

Police turned up at his pitch in the Roma district yesterday, telling him to immediately stop selling his 20 peso ($2.50) crusty sandwiches which, in tandem with the ubiquitous tacos, provide most working Mexicans with their staple food.

He will not be able to reopen for at least a week. "If I can't sell tortas, then I have no earnings, I have no business left, and money coming in," he complained.

Tellez is one of the millions of Mexicans the arrival of swine flu has hit where it hurts - in the pocket.

To contain the epidemic, the capital's Mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, ordered the city's 35,000 restaurants to close until May 6. Limited takeaway services are permitted in some areas, but the move has destroyed the grassroots economy. Schools, bars, gyms, sports arenas and Government offices are also already on lockdown to prevent large gatherings.

To some, the increasingly draconian measures represent a necessary evil. To others, they amount to little more than closing the stable door on a crisis that may have passed its worst point.

Mexico's economy was due to shrink by 4.5 per cent this year due to the global crisis and falling remittances from migrant workers in the US who are the country's biggest source of overseas income.

Economists already say half a per cent has been added to that figure.

The closure of schools means many wage-earners with children are unable to go into work. The poor living in unsanitised suburbs are likely to bear the brunt of the disease's future spread.

Although opinion on their usefulness is divided, roughly half of Mexico City's residents have surgical masks. But greater quantities are evident in the wealthier neighbourhoods. In La Doctores, a rundown district, the proportion of people wearing them is nearer one in four.

Trade has also been hit at the most recession-proof businesses: the notorious hotels de paso, or "love hotels", where couples who live with extended families or who are having affairs rent rooms by the hour. Denis Mendez Lupez is manager of the Hotel Cozumel in Doctores. "People are worried about a hotel being a source of infection. On a personal level, I understand. But on a business level it's terrible."

- INDEPENDENT