A note by Brecha magazine deals with the topic of the growing night life of Ciudad Vieja, the district where Montevideo was born, long ago. I have already talked about this in this blog around march 2004 (spanish only), in an entry where I stated my surprise for the vitality of a zone that seems to deteriorate every time more. Keeping the magazine’s tone, a traditional representative of a good sector of Uruguay’s left sector, the note emphasizes on the initiatives of the authorities and vendors of the zone, who want to increase the security and eliminate those “small beggars” that go around asking for money. This is not new; as long as the zone becomes popular and even gains touristic status, the topic of “security” starts growing more and more. But the topic goes beyond simple thefts and goes to other many common topics in Rio de la Plata. Items such as “car watchers” -people who demand tip in exchange of keeping an eye on your car, absolutely informal, and who will probably damage it if you don’t give them anything- fit into this problem.

As time goes by, it seems more clear that Ciudad Vieja, a zone that for many decades has been one of the poorests of Montevideo, acquires certain particular characteristics of enclave. But, as in La Boca in Buenos Aires, the work here is complex for the “touristificators”: they have to make the zone attractive and safe, and for this they have to put a limit to poverty, which is right there, across the street. Obviously, the proposed solution is usually repression and control. About social policies to improve the zone, we better not even talk about…

And while the growth of the life in Ciudad Vieja has caused more than one security problem, Montevideo is still much safer than most of the big latin american cities. While I haven’t been there since june of 2004, I always loved walking around its streets, even in Ciudad Vieja, late at night.

The note can be found at Brecha (spanish only). Benito from Fuck You, Tiger gives his native, montevidean opinion on the subject (spanish only too).