by Carmen Vildo

Latin America is a subcontinent of contrasts with a high concentration of urbanisation. Modern cities surrounded by poor suburbs whose residents are the most vulnerable victims to natural disasters. There are the educated elites made up of  high officials from both the private and public sectors,  teachers and Northern American University Masters and Doctorate graduates.  In contrast, the illiteracy of women in the poorest regions borders on 50%.

Latin American countries  have opened their goods and capital markets, but their populations who migrate to foreign countries encounter closed borders. The wounds of repression caused by authoritarian governments and the trauma of civil war are fresh; the poor - especially indigenous population - are second or third class citizens.

The Eighties turned into “the lost Decade” for Latin America. One of the principle proofs of this is increase in unemployment and under-employment, with one of its most widely effects being the street trade.  Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Lima, and Mexico and many other cities exhibit large areas where street vendors have assembled.

In some cases, they are persecuted by mayors.  In other cases, they have asserted their presence by forced means. Some assemble precarious stands during the day, which they dissemble at night.  Others offer limited merchandise displayed on plastic sheets that can be collected quickly if the police come.  Some peddle their merchandise while walking the streets or with tricycles and carts.

In certain cities, like Lima or Santiago de Chile, the municipal governments have promoted the relocation of groups of street vendors to other zones where they can continue to practise their activities in more favourable conditions.   They have been given assistance for this relocation.  These policies have functioned properly under certain favourable conditions, in particular when the street vendors have been capable of investing in the purchase and marketing in an appropriate place that is not in reach of the larger, developed sectors.  In the majority of cities, the authorities define their policies for the street vendor market without discussion with the workers who make a living from this activity.

The majority of street vendors are women.  For them it is easier to occupy themselves in this activity than as a salesperson in a shop where generally, experience and accredited levels of education are required .

In addition, independent work permits them to combine the raising of their children and housekeeping with their commercial activities.

Normally the street vendors rely on having an organised plan, above all to give order to their occupation of the streets and to guarantee that the same people will occupy the same locations.  This system works especially where the authorities have resigned themselves to their presence or at least will tolerate them for a certain period of time.  Their organised plan addresses an area that is limited in range to that area which is visible.  It is much more difficult to find such an organised plan covering larger areas, such as districts and provinces.  This must be even less likely on a national level.

This sector has been object of some case studies but their results have not been widely publicised.  There are insufficient statistics and the figures relating to the number of street vendors who exist in a given city varies considerably amongst the different sources.

The existence of StreetNet is an excellent source of information for Latin American Street vendors and will definitely provide stimulus for their organisation. StreetNet is preparing for a Latin American workshop between 5 - 17 February 2001,  comprising representatives of street vendors and organisations supporting them.

The workshop has the following objectives;

a)  Identify the existence of organisations and their nature in the region.

b)  Contribute to strengthen and expand networks  of street vendors at the regional and national levels.

c)  Define what type of organisational framework  is most appropriate to maximise co-operation between the different types of active organisations in this field.

d)  Produce joint recommendations for the Latin American regions in dialogue with StreetNet as a focal point about key matters such as guiding policies relating to the sector,  the feminine presence and leadership and especially how  to address the needs of the poorest street vendors.

e) Come to an agreement on a plan of action among the participating organisations.