Informal commerce covers emblematic sites and prohibited areas in the center of CDMX

Key pieces of commerce in CDMX

Behind this wave of informality in commerce in the Historic Center of Mexico City are key figures who have exercised historical control over this sector.

Alejandra Barrios Richard She has been linked to street trading since 1950 and established herself as one of the most influential leaders in the area. Through the Legitimate Civic Commercial Association (Ale Cívica AC)which he founded in 1983, has come to lead more than 60,000 street vendors in perimeters A and B of the Historic Center.

For decades, Barrios Richard has been a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), where she served as one of the main mobilizers of support for candidates for various PRI public positions, both federal and local. His political career includes having held positions in the leadership bodies of the PRI and a seat in the defunct Legislative Assembly of the Federal District.

Diana Sanchez Barriosdaughter of Alejandra Barrios, is currently a leader of thousands of merchants on public roads. She is also the founder of the Pro-Diana Civil Association, dedicated to supporting merchants and the LGBTI community.

In 2021, she was arrested by the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office for alleged complaints of extortion and in November 2024, she suffered an attack on Motolinia Street at the hands of a person who, after shooting several times, fled on a motorcycle heading a stranger.

Silvia Esther Sánchez Barriosanother of Alejandra Barrios’ daughters, also leads groups of merchants in the Historic Center. She currently serves as a deputy in the Congress of Mexico City, where her sister Diana is her substitute. In the 2024 elections, Silvia was nominated by the PRI to occupy a seat, but after taking office she renounced her membership and declared her affinity for the Morena party bench.

Other members of the Barrios family also exercise control of commerce on roads in the first square of the capital and have even extended to neighborhoods of the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, such as Juárez, Roma, Condesa, San Rafael, Zona Rosa and Santa María la Ribera.

Among the important names is also Maria Rosetewho was a member of the PRD and is currently a member of the Labor Party, an ally of Morena. He leads the Metropolitan Front of Popular Organizations, which brings together 28 other merchant organizations, whose area of operation is in Tepito and streets such as Del Carmen, Costa Rica, González Ortega, among others.

His organization has even had confrontations with the Barrios family over the control and exercise of commerce in the streets of the Historic Center of Mexico City.

The Government Secretariat of Mexico City has identified dozens of merchant organizations in the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, among which the following stand out: