"I have to make money, she said, or I won't eat. While most people built their homes here in the 80s and 90s, the area really started to change about 20 years ago, Corona said, when the government constructed a bridge connecting Mexico City to the high-end business district of Santa Fe nearby. Foreigners came wanting to buy up their land, but none of the neighbors wanted to sell."
"Mexico is unbelievably unequal it's almost inconceivable, said Viri Rios, a public policy expert and director of Mexico Decoded. Inequality in our country has been around for centuries: we've just grown accustomed to living this way."
"A recent report by Oxfam Mexico shed light on the problem: the richest 1% of the population owns 40% of the country's wealth, according to the report, while nearly 19 million people struggle to put food on the table."
Santa Lucia Reacomodo in Mexico City exemplifies Mexico's severe income inequality, where working-class residents live adjacent to luxury apartment complexes. Maria del Socorro Corona, a 79-year-old resident, built her home decades ago on what was once a cactus-covered hillside. After a government bridge connected the area to the affluent Santa Fe business district 20 years ago, wealthy developers sought to purchase land, but residents refused to sell. This created a stark physical divide between opulent glass-balconied towers and modest cinder-block homes. According to Oxfam Mexico, the richest 1% owns 40% of national wealth while nearly 19 million people struggle with food insecurity. This inequality reflects centuries-old patterns deeply embedded in Mexican society.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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