#acapatzingo

Acapatzingo: el otro mundo en medio de la Ciudad de México

Texto: Camila Pizaña y Erika Lozano. Fotos: Erika Lozano   Ciudad de México | Desinformémonos. Aquí no entra la policía; tampoco el coronavirus ni el narco tienen permitida la entrada a la Cooperativa de Vivienda Acapatzingo, donde, al pie del Cerro Yuhualixqui, dos inmensos muros metálicos de color negro delimitan el acceso a un pequeño mundo en el que no tienen lugar los altos índices…

 Acapatzingo is an oasis of colorful houses, Bob Marley music, talk of anarchism and solidarity, and a general air of safety among the bustling city of Mexico City. These past few days have painted a picture in my mind of what Che Guevara and Fidel Castro fought for decades ago throughout Latin America. In the United States, mainstream culture and education teach us that rebellious behavior is something to condemn rather than to support. ¨Communism¨ is a dirty word that we either never mention or that we only bring up with very careful wording while prepared to debate and defend instantly.

When I first came to this community and saw the radical leftist propaganda lining the walls, met coordinators and representatives with piercings, dyed hair, and wearing spikes, my inner-capitalist-mainstream-conformist-self immediately challenged the new perceptions that infiltrated my mind. I thought, well, anarchism sounds nice, communism sounds idealistic, but they could never work. Human beings at the end of the day just don’t respond in the equal form that these systems strive for. I mentally refuted every stance I heard until I finally let down my walls of defiance. But then something in me changed. This is not my country, I thought. I have not struggled the way the general population of Mexico has. I do not have to battle daily against a corrupt government that wears the face of democracy but only has personal interest in mind.

The US government is far from perfect, but at least I feel like I have the opportunity to work and to make a decent living. In Mexico, that luxury is only reserved for a small group of elites. Our country’s history varies so much from that of our Southern neighbor that it takes a conscious effort to take my biases and preconceived notions of prosperity and equality out of my view towards this FPFVI community and their goals. But once I stop comparing their complaints and efforts with how they would manifest in the United States, I see where these people are coming from. I identify with their struggle and I can see how much stronger they are than I could ever be, building their homes independently and from the ground up.