"The tin-and-cardboard tortilla stand run by 54-year-old Maria Magdalena Velazquez feeds her six grandchildren. Children's games can be heard in the back room, and she asks the eldest to read out the titles on a bundle of papers. Here, the girl says from memory, pointing to one. It says that if we don't pay, we have to leave. But where would we go if we have nowhere? Maria explains, referring to a document distributed in the community by the Salvadoran company Quebec S.A.,"
"In the municipality of Soyapango, hundreds of people fleeing poverty and neglect built tin shacks over a landfill in 2004. They arrived on December 1, and that date gave the community its name: Primero de Diciembre. Today, residents estimate there are about 5,000 people living there. Most survive by street vending, scrap recycling, or begging. Despite the muddy streets, collective work managed to level the ground and lay out the housing plots, as well as bring in public water and electricity."
Maria Magdalena Velazquez runs a tin-and-cardboard tortilla stand to feed six grandchildren in Primero de Diciembre. The settlement began in 2004 when families built tin shacks over a landfill and now houses about 5,000 people. Residents survive by street vending, scrap recycling, and begging, often earning $2 to $3 per day. Collective work brought water, electricity and leveled housing plots despite muddy streets. In mid-2023 Quebec S.A. presented itself as the landowner and later distributed lease agreements and documents showing $120–$300 monthly rents or $25,000–$30,000 purchase prices per plot. Bank representatives offered loans requiring documentation, intensifying fears of eviction and displacement.
Read at english.elpais.com
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