“Since the period of President Lenín Moreno this square has been permanently closed,” says a merchant in the sector.
Two months ago, the mayor of Quito, Jorge Yunda, said that on September 24, the fences in the Historic Center would be removed, but until now he has not removed them.
“Pichincha in your neighborhood” found that these fences with barbed wire are still in the historic center, affecting the mobility of citizens and commerce. In addition, the merchants said that these fences are used to restrict the access of protesters to the Plaza Grande where the government palace is located.
On September 11, the mayor of Quito, Jorge Yunda, expressed on his twitter account
“I have spoken with the Minister María Paula Romo and from next Thursday, September 24, all kinds of fences will be removed, we will replace with dance, music, bands, theater, the Historic Center must be protected because it is a world heritage site”
Two months have passed since the mayor made this statement, however, this promise has not been kept.
The reason for the presence of these fences in the historic center is to stop the advance of protests that may be provoked by any economic measure or lack of salary payments as the doctors did.
Citizens say that these fences should already be part of the cultural heritage, ironically. “This is an attack on culture, history, citizenship”, this is how the Government permanently attacks citizens, says a visitor to the place.
In Guayaquil and Chile streets, in Guayaquil and Espejo streets, also at the level of Venezuela, you can still see the fences with barbed wire that prevent normal passage on these pedestrianized roads in the Historic Center of Quito.
The inhabitants and merchants of the sector are upset. José Vega shines shoes in one of the stalls on the side of the Archbishop’s Palace of the Plaza de la Independencia, he comments that they cannot work normally because they close the square at all times.
“Since the period of President Lenín Moreno, this square has been permanently closed (…) when Rafael Correa was there, nobody made noise, they never closed and we worked normally, we had job stability, some warehouses have now gone bankrupt,” Vega points out.
Don Fernando Escobar is another merchant who has a cafeteria in the Plaza Grande, he says that they have put up this fence a long time ago, under the pretext of any small or large protest and close the way, he says.
“These obstacles make sales in businesses go down, so you can’t work. I call on the Government and the Municipality to review these cases ”. This way, the economy in the Historic Center cannot be reactivated, says neighbor Escobar.
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