Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
All the entries posted on September 25, 2006.
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Monday, September 25, 2006
When the rich go to the movies
The gap between rich and poor in Mexico City appears in lots of ways, but one of the most jarring is at the local cinema. Moviegoers at the Cinepolis chain of theaters are presented with two choices.
There’s the regular ticket for about $4, which entitles you to stadium seating and a perfectly fine digital sound system.
But if you don’t want to sit with the unwashed masses, there is the VIP ticket, which gets you into the super premium room. It costs 100 pesos (roughly $10) to get in, which is the equivalent of nearly two day’s salary for Mexicans making minimum wage. Of course, minimum wage earners are not the target audience for the VIP experience.
So what does the VIP room get you? Well, first, there’s the reclinable, plush leather easy chairs that make you feel like you’re sitting in your living room. Then there’s the Alamo Drafthouse-like food and beverage service (if the Alamo Drafthouse were a fancy Japanese restaurant): Waiters scurry to take your order from a menu that includes a full sushi bar (the best we’ve tasted in this sushi-crazed city) and mixed drinks. The seats are assigned and there’s an exclusive lobby set away from the mayhem of the general entrance.
For some socially conscious Chilangos, as Mexico City’s denizens are called, the VIP ticket is a status symbol, a way to separate yourself from the pack. And judging by the crowd when we went last week, lots of teenage boys are ponying up the extra cash to impress their dates. Either way, it’s another reminder of the two parallel Mexico Cities.
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Turn for the worse in Oaxaca
Things got even more hairy in the Oaxacan capital this weekend with a return to violence after a fairly calm few weeks. One protester was shot in the arm after a nasty scuffle outside the exclusive Camino Real Hotel, the snazziest in the city.
Striking teachers and their supporters, who have seized downtown Oaxaca city, descended on the hotel after hearing a rumor that Gov. Ulises Ruiz was there. They went on a door-to-door search for the reviled governor. They failed to find him, but succeeded in scaring a lot of guests and at least one journalist who was holed up in the hotel with a couple of cowering congressmen. Gunmen then appeared on the scene (Mexican media reported plain-clothed police were involved), provoking a shootout.
Events are clearly escalating in Oaxaca. Over the weekend, the governor issued an ultimatum to striking teachers, saying those who didn’t return to classes today would be fired, something sure to rile the strikers. Meanwhile, protesters set off on a weeks-long walk to Mexico City where they plan more acts of civil resistance.
The U.S. Embassy also issued another travel advisory for the city on Sunday.
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