Colonia Buenos Aires
Encyclopedia
Colonia Buenos Aires is a colonia
of the Cuauhtémoc borough
located south of the historic center of Mexico City
. This colonia is primarily known for its abundance of dealers selling used car parts, and an incident when six youths were executed by police. About half of the colonia’s residents make a living from car parts, but these businesses have a reputation for selling stolen merchandise. The colonia is also home to an old cemetery established by Maximilian I
, which has a number of fine tombs and sculptures.
Originally, it was home to a large number of plumbers and those who sold tools. From in the 1940s, with the rise of the automobile, work associated with cars, such as mechanics and taxi drivers began to dominate the economy. This led to the selling of auto parts as the main business.
In 1997, Buenos Aires became famous due to a tragedy that came to symbolize urban violence at that time, being widely reported and analyzed for weeks on radio and television. The incident left the neighborhood with a violent reputation. Six youths disappeared during a police operation on September 8, 1997 by “preventative police” squad of the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica. The sweep was in response to a recent shooting in which a policeman and a resident died. The young men were apprehended by the police as they occupited an abandoned car in front of a city run child care center. Of the six that disappeared, three were found dead in Tlahuac with evidence that they had been executed. The bodies assumed to be of the other three were found in a rural area of Ajusco. The three found in Tlahuac had signs of torture and their faces disfigures beyond recognition. The bodies were mutilated with only one remaining not decapitated. One of the victims received 13 shots, 10 to the head.
More than 400 government agents were investigated including police and some nearby military personnel. Thirty six were accused and 13 convicted. The accused and convicted were mostly members of two elite police squads called the “Zorros” (Foxes) and the “Jaguares” (Jaguars).
The bodies of three of the men were left with authorities because their families demanding DNA tests from abroad to verify identity. Six years after their death, the remains of the three, Angel Leal Alonso, Carlos Alberto López Inés and Román Morales, were still in the lockers of the Forensics Service. Due to bureaucratic paperwork, the families had not been able to retrieve them, and some had decided to leave them there.
In 1998, the family received reparations from the city. The families demanded one million pesos for each victim but received 400,000. At the corner of Doctor Andrade and Ingeniero Bolanos Cacho an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe serves as a memorial to the victims.
The notoriety of the event prompted Conrado Tostado, the director of the Museum of the City of Mexico
, to get the city to sponsor sculptures for Colonia Buenos Aires. One artist who did work here was Ivonne Domenge. These are sculptures are made of machine parts soldered together and located on the traffic islands on Doctor Vertiz Street.
Another artist who became interesting in working in the colonia was Betsabee Romero, whose specialty is in altars and commemorative works, with emphasis on symbolism. In 1995, she began to be interested in cars and their role in the urban landscape. She first created a piece using a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria
in Tijuana
, then began to be interested in Buenos Aires after the 1997 incident. She tried to work in the colonia, creating pieces, much as she did in Tijuana but area residents became suspicious of her activities. Early pieces were quickly vandalized. Romero then worked to introduce herself and her work to residents and workers in the area. This resulted in success, and the “adoption” of five long-abandoned cars on the streets of the colonia.
One of these cars was “seeded” here by local police with the aim of accusing local shop owners of auto theft, thus rendering it “taboo” and “untouchable.” This one was converted into a massive flowerpot with a large nopal
cactus plant. Another was covered in antique tile. The most accepted was based on a 1979 Grand Marquis
parked in front of the child care center where the executed youths had been taken. This car was “bandaged” and otherwise prepped to allow residents to cover it in graffiti, insults, messages and more.
to the south, Eje Tres Sur to the north, Eje Central
to the east and Avenida Cuautémoc to the west. Today, there are 256 established businesses There are 23 blocks with 1,685 housing units and 256 established businesses.
It is a poor area, of about 5,000 people, about half of whom make a living from selling auto parts. Most residents are between 15 and 30 years of age. Many of the children begin working at age 10 and abandon school.
There is only one school, the Celerino Cano primary school, in which few students attend and there is a high dropout rate. There are no sports facilities, no cultural centers, parks or other public spaces. There are no offices for city social programs.
was told that the market here was primarily in stolen parts.
The police are also accused of colluding with car thieves and chop shops in this area. However, in April 2010, 35 tons of auto parts were confiscated in a sweep of the colonia. It was part of an ongoing investigation into seven car theft rings in the city and the state of Querétaro
.
Since the area is filled with small shops, there are as many as 235 people who work as “coyotes.” These people stand in the streets and look for potential customers as they enter the neighborhood. Then they work to help find the part from the various stores in their area. They also are supposed to help keep customers from the area from getting robbed, but they have been implicated in such crimes.
The more serious problem is the sale of drugs in the area. There have been 25 areas in the 27 block area identified as selling drugs. Many of the substances sold include very cheap ones, including inhalants, which primarily affect the young people of the colonia.
Another problem is the robbery of those from outside who enter the area, especially those who come to shop. This is one of the reasons the colonia has been ranked as one of the most dangerous in the Cuauhtémoc borough. Assaults tend to concentrate on the following streets: Doctor Norma, Federico Gomez Santos, Andrade as well as near the Centro Medico hospital.
(French Cemetery of Piety) which was founded by Maximilian I in the 19th century. Today, this cemetery is mostly abandoned and quiet, even on Day of the Dead
, when most Mexican families visit family graves. Many are tombs over 100 years old, abandoned. Some remain works of art but others are totally destroyed. The grounds and not kept. The remains of Francisco I. Madero
, José María Pino Suárez
, Emilio Portes Gil
, Javier Torres Adalid, Mariano Escobedo
and José Revueltas
are buried here.
The cemetery was used mostly by the well-to-do and many of the graves have Art Nouveau
designs. Those with the means would have large gravestones, small buildings and/or sculptures on the gravesites. Many of the sculptures refer to death, fragility and the brevity of life. Some were done by an Italian sculptor named Ponzanelli. There is also a 100-year-old replica of the Pietà
sculpture by Michelangelo
.
The government of the Cuauhtémoc borough states that the cemetery was closed in 1924; however, Oaxaca
n writer Andrés Henestrosa
was buried here in 2008, which was his wish according to his daughter.
Colonia (Mexico)
In general, colonias are neighborhoods in Mexican cities, which have no jurisdictional autonomy or representation. It is plausible that the name, which literally means colony, arose in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, when one of the first urban developments outside Mexico City's core was...
of the Cuauhtémoc borough
Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...
located south of the historic center of Mexico City
Historic center of Mexico City
The historic center of Mexico City is also known as the "Centro" or "Centro Histórico." This neighborhood is focused on the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City and extends in all directions for a number of blocks with its farthest extent being west to the Alameda Central The Zocalo is the largest...
. This colonia is primarily known for its abundance of dealers selling used car parts, and an incident when six youths were executed by police. About half of the colonia’s residents make a living from car parts, but these businesses have a reputation for selling stolen merchandise. The colonia is also home to an old cemetery established by Maximilian I
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
, which has a number of fine tombs and sculptures.
History
While there are no records to establish an exact date, the colonia was probably first constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, beginning with irregular and unregulated housing around Hidalupe and El Tinado Streets. The first mention of it in official records is in the Boletín Municipal in 1920, which reports that 23 blocks and 285 residences were already in existence. The Boletín also mentions that the area was not authorized for housing. It is believed that the name is ironic, as at the time wastewater flowed past here in the Rio La Piedad.Originally, it was home to a large number of plumbers and those who sold tools. From in the 1940s, with the rise of the automobile, work associated with cars, such as mechanics and taxi drivers began to dominate the economy. This led to the selling of auto parts as the main business.
In 1997, Buenos Aires became famous due to a tragedy that came to symbolize urban violence at that time, being widely reported and analyzed for weeks on radio and television. The incident left the neighborhood with a violent reputation. Six youths disappeared during a police operation on September 8, 1997 by “preventative police” squad of the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica. The sweep was in response to a recent shooting in which a policeman and a resident died. The young men were apprehended by the police as they occupited an abandoned car in front of a city run child care center. Of the six that disappeared, three were found dead in Tlahuac with evidence that they had been executed. The bodies assumed to be of the other three were found in a rural area of Ajusco. The three found in Tlahuac had signs of torture and their faces disfigures beyond recognition. The bodies were mutilated with only one remaining not decapitated. One of the victims received 13 shots, 10 to the head.
More than 400 government agents were investigated including police and some nearby military personnel. Thirty six were accused and 13 convicted. The accused and convicted were mostly members of two elite police squads called the “Zorros” (Foxes) and the “Jaguares” (Jaguars).
The bodies of three of the men were left with authorities because their families demanding DNA tests from abroad to verify identity. Six years after their death, the remains of the three, Angel Leal Alonso, Carlos Alberto López Inés and Román Morales, were still in the lockers of the Forensics Service. Due to bureaucratic paperwork, the families had not been able to retrieve them, and some had decided to leave them there.
In 1998, the family received reparations from the city. The families demanded one million pesos for each victim but received 400,000. At the corner of Doctor Andrade and Ingeniero Bolanos Cacho an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe serves as a memorial to the victims.
The notoriety of the event prompted Conrado Tostado, the director of the Museum of the City of Mexico
Museum of the City of Mexico
The Museum of the City of Mexico is located at Pino Suarez 30, a few blocks south of the Zocalo, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time. This building used to be the palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, who were the...
, to get the city to sponsor sculptures for Colonia Buenos Aires. One artist who did work here was Ivonne Domenge. These are sculptures are made of machine parts soldered together and located on the traffic islands on Doctor Vertiz Street.
Another artist who became interesting in working in the colonia was Betsabee Romero, whose specialty is in altars and commemorative works, with emphasis on symbolism. In 1995, she began to be interested in cars and their role in the urban landscape. She first created a piece using a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria
Ford Crown Victoria
-1992–1994:Released in March 1991 as an early 1992 model, the Crown Victoria sedan was completely redesigned with a rounder, eight-window roofline . The redesign reduced the coefficient of drag from 0.42 to 0.34; the suspension setup was also heavily revised...
in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, then began to be interested in Buenos Aires after the 1997 incident. She tried to work in the colonia, creating pieces, much as she did in Tijuana but area residents became suspicious of her activities. Early pieces were quickly vandalized. Romero then worked to introduce herself and her work to residents and workers in the area. This resulted in success, and the “adoption” of five long-abandoned cars on the streets of the colonia.
One of these cars was “seeded” here by local police with the aim of accusing local shop owners of auto theft, thus rendering it “taboo” and “untouchable.” This one was converted into a massive flowerpot with a large nopal
Nopal
Nopales are a vegetable made from the young cladode segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. These fleshy pads are flat and about hand-sized. They can be purple or green...
cactus plant. Another was covered in antique tile. The most accepted was based on a 1979 Grand Marquis
Mercury Marquis
These were known as the "Continental Styling" years, as Mercury was trying to market itself as an affordable Lincoln, rather than a more expensive Ford...
parked in front of the child care center where the executed youths had been taken. This car was “bandaged” and otherwise prepped to allow residents to cover it in graffiti, insults, messages and more.
Description and population
The colonia is located south of the historic center of Mexico City. The borders are marked by the following streets: Viaducto Miguel AlemánViaducto Miguel Alemán
Viaducto Miguel Alemán is a crosscutting freeway, opened in September 1950, that runs east-west across the middle of Mexico City. In the center of the road is a river encased in cement to control flooding...
to the south, Eje Tres Sur to the north, Eje Central
Eje Central
The Eje Central is part of a system of roadways built by Carlos Hank González to make Mexico City more automobile-friendly....
to the east and Avenida Cuautémoc to the west. Today, there are 256 established businesses There are 23 blocks with 1,685 housing units and 256 established businesses.
It is a poor area, of about 5,000 people, about half of whom make a living from selling auto parts. Most residents are between 15 and 30 years of age. Many of the children begin working at age 10 and abandon school.
There is only one school, the Celerino Cano primary school, in which few students attend and there is a high dropout rate. There are no sports facilities, no cultural centers, parks or other public spaces. There are no offices for city social programs.
Used auto parts
While there are 236 officially registered businesses in the colonia, there are an estimated 400 business dedicated to the sale of used car parts alone. These businesses have a reputation for selling parts from stolen cars. One reason for this is that a boom in stolen parts began in the 1970s, when chrome accessories such as bumpers and mirrors began to be replaced by cheaper and interchangeable plastic parts. The Union de Comerciantes de Refacciones y Accesorios Nuevos y Usados para Autos y Camiones de la Colonia Buenos Aires says that this is not the case, that there exists a norm for the acquisition and sale of used auto parts. The government, too, has ceased to consider the area as a major focus for the traffic in stolen auto parts but the reputation persists. In the 2000s, there were efforts between the business association and the city government to help the used auto part market here but these talks fell though after then mayor Andrés Manuel López ObradorAndrés Manuel López Obrador
Andrés Manuel López Obrador , also known as AMLO or El Peje, is a Mexican politician who held the position of Head of Government of the Federal District from 2000 to 2005, before resigning in July 2005 to contend the 2006 presidential election, representing the unsuccessful Coalition for the Good...
was told that the market here was primarily in stolen parts.
The police are also accused of colluding with car thieves and chop shops in this area. However, in April 2010, 35 tons of auto parts were confiscated in a sweep of the colonia. It was part of an ongoing investigation into seven car theft rings in the city and the state of Querétaro
Querétaro
Querétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro....
.
Since the area is filled with small shops, there are as many as 235 people who work as “coyotes.” These people stand in the streets and look for potential customers as they enter the neighborhood. Then they work to help find the part from the various stores in their area. They also are supposed to help keep customers from the area from getting robbed, but they have been implicated in such crimes.
Crime
The area has a reputation of being “bravo” (lit. fierce) or dangerous and a “nido de delincuentes” (nest of delinquents) even though crime statistics here are fairly low. The government considers the area to be populated by generally honest people but infiltrated by delinquents. Many state that it is perfectly safe to walk the streets in the center of the colonia, although they admit the area in the north that borders Colonia Doctores does have some problems with delinquents. Most of the crime in the area (outside of the trafficking of stolen car parts) involves car theft, muggings and homicide.The more serious problem is the sale of drugs in the area. There have been 25 areas in the 27 block area identified as selling drugs. Many of the substances sold include very cheap ones, including inhalants, which primarily affect the young people of the colonia.
Another problem is the robbery of those from outside who enter the area, especially those who come to shop. This is one of the reasons the colonia has been ranked as one of the most dangerous in the Cuauhtémoc borough. Assaults tend to concentrate on the following streets: Doctor Norma, Federico Gomez Santos, Andrade as well as near the Centro Medico hospital.
Panteón Francés de la Piedad
The neighborhood contains the Panteón Francés de la PiedadPanteón Francés
El Panteón Francés de la Piedad is a cemetery in Mexico City in which several notable people are interred.It is located in the southern section of the city, adjacent to the medical center, the Centro Medico Metro station, and the Colonia Buenos Aires neighborhood.-People interred:* Miguel Zacarías...
(French Cemetery of Piety) which was founded by Maximilian I in the 19th century. Today, this cemetery is mostly abandoned and quiet, even on Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...
, when most Mexican families visit family graves. Many are tombs over 100 years old, abandoned. Some remain works of art but others are totally destroyed. The grounds and not kept. The remains of Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
, José María Pino Suárez
José María Pino Suárez
José María Pino Suárez was a Mexican statesman, revolutionary, poet, journalist and jurist who served as Vice President of Mexico , Secreatry of Education and Governor of Yucatán...
, Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Cándido Portes Gil was President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930.-Biography:Portes Gil was born in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state of Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico....
, Javier Torres Adalid, Mariano Escobedo
Mariano Escobedo
Mariano Escobedo was a Mexican Army general and former Governor of Nuevo León.He was born on January 16, 1826 in Galeana, Nuevo León. He fought during the Mexican American War in the army with the rank of lieutenant...
and José Revueltas
José Revueltas
José Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican writer, essayist, and political activist. He was part of an important artistic family that included his siblings Silvestre , Fermín and Rosaura .-Life:He was often imprisoned for his political activism, almost from the time he was a boy...
are buried here.
The cemetery was used mostly by the well-to-do and many of the graves have Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
designs. Those with the means would have large gravestones, small buildings and/or sculptures on the gravesites. Many of the sculptures refer to death, fragility and the brevity of life. Some were done by an Italian sculptor named Ponzanelli. There is also a 100-year-old replica of the Pietà
Pietà (Michelangelo)
The Pietà is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, who was a representative in...
sculpture by Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
.
The government of the Cuauhtémoc borough states that the cemetery was closed in 1924; however, Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
n writer Andrés Henestrosa
Andrés Henestrosa
Andrés Henestrosa Morales was a Mexican writer and politician. In addition to his prose and poetry, Henestrosa was elected to the federal legislature, serving three terms in the Chamber of Deputies, and as a senator for the state of Oaxaca from 1982 to 1988...
was buried here in 2008, which was his wish according to his daughter.