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00:00Who wants corn?
00:22It's known as the belly of Mexico.
00:26A monster responsible for feeding the 22 million inhabitants of the Megalopolis.
00:32The central, the Abastos, is the world's largest market.
00:36But in a country ravaged by cartels and extreme violence,
00:40just selling fruit and vegetables requires protection.
00:46To all divisions, stand by in the supermarket areas and close to the exit.
00:54This is what a market police patrol consists of.
01:00Armoured vehicles with a motorbike escort.
01:03Every outing is a show of force.
01:06The idea is that people can come here in peace without being robbed or assaulted.
01:13For the last 40 years, the centres stayed in the headlines.
01:20Fire and thefts, extortion, murders and the killing of a policewoman with a bullet in the back of the head in 2018.
01:28Following years of anarchy, the authorities have tried to take back control by force.
01:37It's now impossible to escape the closed-circuit cameras,
01:40manned from this state-of-the-art control building within the centre itself.
01:45Try to be extremely vigilant in your respective zones.
01:5224 hours a day, seven days a week, the police examine the images of 652 cameras.
02:00What's going on?
02:02Suspect individual near a motorbike.
02:06Correcto.
02:08In which zone?
02:10Give me the exact coordinates.
02:13Amongst the motorbikes.
02:17Get going, squads, A-patrol, A-patrol. Head for alley 29.
02:23Police commander Garcia is the second in command of the Mexico City Police.
02:30He heads the 800-strong force exclusively dedicated to market security.
02:37Let's see what's going on.
02:44Check the VIN numbers, please.
02:55The number plates check out.
02:56It's not stolen.
02:57We'll let him go.
03:00The motorbikes are used by gangs or cartels for executions or hold-ups.
03:09We run constant checks in the Centro del Basto
03:11because a large majority of offences are committed with these vehicles.
03:16There are a lot of traffic jams leaving the market
03:18and bikes allow criminals to get away.
03:24To keep the upper hand, police use a zero-tolerance approach.
03:30For a simple disorderly conduct, the 20-man strong patrol flexed their muscles.
03:37I won't have provocation.
03:39It's okay. It's okay.
03:45It's okay. It's okay.
03:49Let go of me.
03:51Yes, all right, but let go of me.
03:52Leave me alone.
03:56The man was drinking alcohol in public, which is now banned to avoid any outbursts.
04:00Speak to the chief.
04:08Look, he had a bottle of beer.
04:12The consumption of alcohol is a real source of violence.
04:16People who are drunk harm, fight, kill, and rape.
04:25It's vital for us to combat this scourge.
04:31As you can see, we've got it covered.
04:34The Centro del Basto is under high protection.
04:36The police attempted to reassure us concerning the supply centre.
04:43But behind the crackdowns, much greater threats menaced the largest market in the world.
04:53Mexico City has the highest population of North America.
04:56It's the country's economic capital and the major hub for food supply for the whole of the continent.
05:04To the east of the megalopolis, Itzapalpa houses the largest market in the world, spread over more than 800 acres.
05:1324 hours a day, over 500,000 people work and meet each day amidst a riot of colours and tastes.
05:26Each day, more than 50,000 trucks drop off their wares.
05:32A city within a city.
05:34It has its own restaurants, its banks, and even its own tattoo parlours.
05:39It's a symbol of the Vida Loca.
05:41Make the most of life. There's enough time for suffering.
05:45After the Mexican Stock Exchange, it's the country's second largest financial market.
05:50Every month, there was 600 million dollars change hands.
05:53Nice peppers. How much are they? Three pesos?
05:57The Central de Abasto is a source of cupidity for many, particularly for the country's biggest cartel.
06:08The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has taken control of the market for avocados and lemons, the two most consumed products in Mexico.
06:16Those that talk are killed, the people are scared, and they're right to be.
06:21The market is rife with corruption, and numerous traders have protested violently against extortion by administrative agents.
06:31To sell here, you have to pay a daily fee of between two and five dollars.
06:36And that money never appears on the Central's accounts.
06:43At the Central de Abasto, extreme riches rub shoulders with extreme poverty.
06:50Do you live here?
06:52Yes, with my wife and kids.
06:53The market distills all the problems of Mexican society, as well as all of its vitality.
07:08Roberto is 31. He grew up in the most dangerous part of the city.
07:13The market has enabled him to stay free of the gangs and cartels.
07:16Instead, he's chosen a working man's life, stocking at 3 a.m. each day.
07:24Hey man, how you doing? How much are your potatoes today?
07:2826 pesos.
07:3026 pesos? You're joking.
07:33See ya.
07:37Roberto has taken over his father's stall, selling potatoes.
07:40He buys his stock in the wholesaler's area of the market.
07:48Look, they sort potatoes here.
07:51Then they pack them and throw away the damaged ones.
07:54The guys here start work at 10 or 11 at night.
08:00Miners often do night work, despite it being illegal for under-16s to work in Mexico.
08:08How old are you?
08:09I'm 15.
08:15That's the kid.
08:17Have you worked here for long?
08:19Yes, quite a while.
08:24Hey man.
08:27I'll be back later, okay?
08:29Hey, you okay?
08:31Those look good and aren't expensive.
08:33Should do the trick for today.
08:35He buys 590 kilos of top-quality potatoes.
08:40Roberto pays 1 euro a kilo and sells them for 150 a kilo.
08:45The price of food has gone through the roof recently.
08:49Mexico is suffering from sky-high inflation.
08:51Hey, you good?
08:54Join me in stall 0229.
08:57I'm calling the guy to help me move the potatoes.
09:01Then he can take the sacks with him.
09:03To move the merchandise, Roberto calls on a diablero, or barrow boy.
09:13One of the 14,000 men that cover the 32 mid and square feet of this maze, both day and night.
09:19For about $30 a day, the menials of the market can carry up to a ton of merchandise on their barrows.
09:32Exhausting work for nearly 10 hours a day.
09:34He'll load the sacks onto his barrow and meet me at my stall.
09:46You'll move it all in one go?
09:47Yeah, yeah.
09:52There's 10, 18, 40.
09:54Yep, that's 590 kilos in all.
09:58He'll be pulling them for a while.
10:01Jose, the diablero, has to weave his way through the traffic.
10:06At 4 in the morning, the roads through the market are already choc-a-block.
10:16Inside the central, it's really up and down.
10:19Really difficult.
10:24With all that weight to transport, it's easy to go by road.
10:27It climbs a bit, but it's all right.
10:36He'll be there before me.
10:42Two and a half miles further on, he arrives in the sales area for the general public, restaurant owners and grocers.
10:48There are numerous fruits and vegetables on display, like this Mexican specialty, nopal.
10:57It's a cactus that can be drunk as a juice or eaten in a salad.
11:05How much can you earn in a day?
11:06When business is good, like today, where I'm all over the place, I can earn up to 1,400 pesos.
11:13For how many hours work?
11:15From midnight to one in the afternoon.
11:18$70 for 13 hours work.
11:21And then you go to the gym?
11:23No, no, no need.
11:25I think I already do enough here.
11:26When I started here, I weighed 110 kilos. Just imagine.
11:33Do you enjoy it?
11:35Sure. If not, I wouldn't be here.
11:41You know exactly how much you earn?
11:44You don't have a boss.
11:46You work when you want, carrying what you want.
11:48In other jobs, the boss is always on your back.
11:52I did that for 17 years, and it's really not for me anymore.
12:01Two years ago, Roberto took over the business run by his father, who died of Covid.
12:07The virus claimed many victims amongst market workers.
12:11They were in close contact and without protection, yet even at the height of the epidemic,
12:15then never ceased to feed the capital.
12:21A stall like Roberto's costs about $600 a month on average.
12:26But he doesn't pay rent because his father bought the pitch many years ago.
12:31Is business good?
12:32Yes, yes, business is good. I do all right for myself.
12:38Roberto does well. $1,200 a month.
12:42That's twice as much as the average Mexican.
12:46Get your potatoes here. They're great potatoes.
12:50Could I have two kilos?
12:52Red or white?
12:54Same price?
12:55Yeah, yeah.
12:57After nine hours' work, it's now midday, the end of this first day.
13:01Hey man, hey!
13:04Hey, what can I do you for, Chief? Two kilos?
13:06Two kilos.
13:10Roberto and Ajax, his best friend, another market trader, like many other young Mexicans, have a second job, or more likely a passion.
13:22The potato seller becomes a tattoo artist.
13:25He's just opened his first parlor, a short hop away from his stall in the market center.
13:37Most of my customers are from here, from the central.
13:39Roberto is proud of his success, having, like so many others here, started at the bottom of the ladder.
13:50When I was 15, I started here as a diablero to earn money.
13:53It's very, very hard work.
13:56I did it for six or seven years.
14:01With a small amount of savings, Roberto has bought tools to do his first tattoos.
14:07Now he has his own parlor, a meeting place with the evocative name of verduleros, meaning the vegetable sellers in English.
14:18I cut hair, he does tattoos, and we like listening to rap, Negro Malafama.
14:26It's a song I wrote about two years ago.
14:28I wrote about two years ago.
14:40Iax is the best known rapper in Ixtapalapa, in the market area.
14:46The places inspire the songs.
14:58The central is a city within a city, where you can get a tattoo.
15:08Have your hair cut.
15:10Your shoes polished.
15:13Or do all your supermarket shopping.
15:17To eat something, you're spoiled for choice.
15:22Hundreds of stalls offering hundreds of specialties.
15:25Mexican pork kebabs.
15:29And for those with an iron stomach.
15:32What is it?
15:34Cow brains.
15:39Some oddities are more appetizing than others, like the fruit of the mammy sapote.
15:46The pulp of the mammy fruit is sweet.
15:49The stone is used for making shampoo.
15:51And this is the champion of champions, the jackfruit, the largest edible fruit in the world.
16:00It can weigh up to 88 pounds.
16:02What's that called?
16:04Yaga.
16:06The fruit of the Guanabara is a food lover's delight.
16:10It can be used to make juice or ice cream.
16:13The Guanabara's pulp is bittersweet.
16:16But everyone knows this local star.
16:21The avocado.
16:23One of the emblems of Mexican culture.
16:25The country is by far the world's largest producer.
16:29Come on guys, we gotta get to work.
16:31Let's get loaded up.
16:32How many cases do you want?
16:34Ten.
16:36Ten. I've got them in that category.
16:37Currently, large numbers of people can no longer afford to buy them.
16:43The price has gone up too much, doubling in the last four months.
16:47Manuel has been an avocado wholesaler for 30 years.
16:51This photo is from 1998.
16:55Avocados were a good deal cheaper.
16:58It used to cost 115 pesos for a 20 kilo case.
17:02And now, it's gone up a lot.
17:05A case now costs over a thousand pesos.
17:08A rise of two and a half dollars per kilo.
17:11They're now so expensive that most of the produce is exported to the US and Europe.
17:15It's all down to supply and demand.
17:21It's become too expensive for national consumption.
17:25One option is to switch to eating smaller avocados.
17:30Because the largest ones are mostly exported.
17:35There's perhaps another explanation that the producer would rather not mention.
17:40It's to be found 370 miles away, to the west of the capital, in the country's most dangerous state,
17:50Michoacán.
17:52A farming region which tourists are advised to avoid
17:56and has been deserted by journalists due to regular assassinations.
18:00La Tierra Caliente, the hot spot as it's called,
18:03is ravaged by the narcotics trade that's prospered there for decades.
18:07It's also Mexico's main avocado-producing region.
18:1367-year-old Jose Luis is one of the 28,000 producers in the region.
18:19He was the only one who would speak to us.
18:24He arranged to meet us at Uruapan, the world capital for avocado production.
18:30On the way there, we were struck by the heavy police and army presence.
18:34Why all the police?
18:38Well, at Uruapan, how shall I say this?
18:45There's been a very great deal of insecurity these last few years.
18:51These checkpoints are for searching cars, and their drivers.
18:56Uruapan is the most deadly town in Michoacán, classed in the top 10 most dangerous towns in the world.
19:07Are there many firearms in Michoacán?
19:12Yes, I think there are a great many.
19:14With this much insecurity, yes, there must be a lot of weapons.
19:20Jose Luis is embarrassed. This is the place where silence reigns.
19:26Michoacán is the fiefdom of the most wanted man in Mexico and the U.S.
19:31And he has a modest price on his head.
19:35A reward of $10 million.
19:40The drug trafficker, El Mencho, is at the head of Jalisco New Generation,
19:45currently the country's most powerful and violent cartel.
19:48In these propaganda films, they present equipment worthy of any army.
20:06Dozens of armoured vehicles, machine guns.
20:09This bloodthirsty cartel is in the process of taking over the whole state of Michoacán.
20:14And they want their part of the avocado pie.
20:18For drug traffickers, it's an ideal way of diversifying resources.
20:23They extort money from farmers by imposing a tax on their harvests.
20:28Beware those that refuse to pay.
20:30Their reign of terror involves a public display of the punishment for not complying.
20:35Like these avocado farmers, stripped and hanged for all to see.
20:39In August 2022, 38 bodies were found buried in this field of avocados in Uruapan.
20:52José Luis agreed to speak to us as long as we respected a non-negotiable condition.
20:58Don't mention the cartel.
21:04Follow me.
21:05Come and see my boys working.
21:10They're tidying up.
21:12We don't use any weed killer here.
21:17It's all done with a strimmer.
21:19Like many producers, José Luis works a seven-day week, along with his two sons aged 20 and 22.
21:26The best avocado in the world is from Michoacán.
21:32There are plantations in Colombia, Heru and Chile, but they taste completely different.
21:39Why?
21:41Well, due to the soil, the water, the altitude, the sunshine and the air of the state of Michoacán.
21:47With his 15 acres of land, José Luis harvests between 8 and 12 tons of avocados per year.
21:57Like all of Michoacán's producers, he's seen the market take off and prices rocket.
22:03Yet José Luis has not benefited from it and worries about his children's future.
22:07These days, the children of farmers are aware of injustices.
22:18They've watched their parents work so hard without any sign of their lives improving.
22:24Another generation has passed and still no progress.
22:30Yet they can see that other kids are better off.
22:35They can buy themselves houses and cars, a better life.
22:40So they get desperate and either they go to the U.S.
22:45or they get involved in illegal activities here in Mexico.
22:48In other words, José Luis condemns the cartels.
22:56In all probability, he pays the tax imposed by the traffickers, 30% of his revenue according to some sources.
23:04These are weeds.
23:08Traffickers that get rich on farmers' backs.
23:11In the state of Michoacán, only one man has dared take up arms against those who profit from price hikes.
23:20He doesn't produce avocados but another fruit equally of interest to the cartel.
23:26Limes.
23:27In 2013, the farmer Hippolyto Mora set up the first self-defense militia to fight back against the tyranny and violence of organized crime.
23:43In the village of La Ruana, the farmer took us to where it all started, nearly 10 years ago, on this very square.
23:50This is where we all gathered on February 24th, 2013.
23:56It started with three of us until the streets were jam-packed with all the people wanting to defend themselves.
24:05That day, Mexico's first self-defense league saw the light of day.
24:11All the people held hostage by the cartels got together behind Hippolyto Mora.
24:15Ordinary farmers had swapped their working tools for weapons.
24:21We can't carry on like this. That's enough.
24:23We can't let them continue destroying us.
24:25If necessary, we'll die for it. The struggle won't end.
24:29In the face of state disinterest in stopping the extortion, the struggle took shape.
24:35Over several months, dozens of groups like Hippolyto Mora's were formed throughout Michoacán.
24:40But the traffickers' reply was swift in coming.
24:46An ambush of unheard-of violence.
24:50I'll show you the exact spot where we were attacked on December 16th, 2014.
24:55I lost five men that day.
25:00The fields in the area were taken by mercenaries.
25:04They encircled us and shot at us.
25:07They came from every side.
25:11That afternoon, about 30 heavy-armed men attacked them.
25:14An interminable shoot-out. The exchange of gunfire lasted over 30 minutes.
25:33The confrontation left 11 dead.
25:47Those are the crosses of the days dead.
25:53One of them is for my son, who died that day.
25:56He wanted to fight at my side. I wish he hadn't.
25:59He wanted to fight with me.
26:04Hippolyta's eldest son was 40 years old and the father of three children.
26:09The day of his funeral, over 3,000 people came to pay tribute.
26:13Did you ever imagine farming like this?
26:28No, I never thought this would happen in my life.
26:31You used to be able to walk around at night alone.
26:36It's very hot here.
26:37People used to sleep out under the stars safely.
26:42Now whole families get murdered in their own homes.
26:48Hippolyta's vigilant groups have not succeeded in ending the violence.
26:56The owner of that white pickup runs a packaging business.
27:00He would never dare speak to you.
27:03He's even scared of saying hello to me.
27:07He was kidnapped by traffickers and only released for an enormous ransom.
27:13Probably millions of pesos.
27:16People understandably live in fear.
27:17These days, the traffickers make no attempt to hide themselves.
27:25Look and keep filming discreetly, discreetly.
27:30The jeep on the right belongs to a trafficker.
27:35Is it owned by a cartel?
27:41Yes, certainly. They've got two or three.
27:43Yes, it's one of theirs.
27:50In 2015, Hippolyta was told to disarm his militia by the government.
27:56He now lives under constant 24-hour police protection.
28:02The government let me this armored vehicle.
28:06It's not mine.
28:08It's designed for passenger safety.
28:10This window is reinforced.
28:11The driver's seat is armored steel, and the seat next to it is armored.
28:17Bodyguards can shoot to the side and the back.
28:26Hippolyta often feels as if he's fighting alone.
28:29The preferred response is that of total silence.
28:33These journalists have come all the way from France to hear what we're going through.
28:37Will no one tell them?
28:38No, no, we'd rather not.
28:40You see what I mean?
28:42No one will say anything.
28:44Do you want to talk?
28:46No.
28:48I'm only joking.
28:50You see, it's the same everywhere you go.
28:53All over the region.
28:55Because if you dare to speak out, you'd die for it.
28:56You'd die for it.
29:04Is it good?
29:05Delicious.
29:09Although disarmed, Hippolyta still poses a problem for the cartels, who'd do anything to shut him up.
29:14Several months ago, one of his police escorts was kidnapped, tortured and shot in the head.
29:29Please come in.
29:30For some years, the founder of the vigilante self-defense group has lived alone with his cats in this modest home where his children grew up.
29:40To escape the death threats, all of his family is in exile in the US or Cuba.
29:45This is my murdered son.
29:51This is his wife.
29:53My twin daughters.
29:55My wife, Maria Isabel.
29:57My son, Hippolyta.
29:59Everyone calls him Poli.
30:03Hippolyta refuses to leave.
30:04The cartels have even offered him tens of thousands of dollars to give up the fight.
30:11This is my wealth.
30:13It's better than money.
30:15On these walls, the farmer proudly displays the souvenirs of many years of combat.
30:20A few days ago, Hippolyta received a video from the Jalisco cartel with a death threat directed at him personally.
30:27This is for you, Hippolyta Mara, you bastard.
30:33Me and my guys will get you in an ambush.
30:37It's what you deserve.
30:42Threats and scenes of barbarity to silence their vocal opponent.
30:47In this video, cartel members are ripping out the heart of a still living man.
30:53Look at what's happening in Mechoa Khan.
30:55These barbarians are devoid of humanity.
31:00Is the government protecting us from them?
31:02No.
31:04They should be in prison or in the ground.
31:09Like Don Quixote, Hippolyta keeps on fighting his one-man battle that is doomed to fail.
31:19I died the day my son was killed.
31:23December 16th, 2014.
31:28Why should I shut up now?
31:30To stay silent would let down my son and those that died with him.
31:35It would betray my ideals.
31:38That's why I'll never be silent.
31:40I'll carry on telling the truth until the end.
31:42It would be easy to forget that he's just a simple lime farmer.
31:50Every day, he carries on working his land.
31:54Let's visit my farm workers.
31:59Hello, Patty.
32:01Hello, Don Hippolyta. Are you well?
32:04Yes, and you?
32:06Fine.
32:08People come and go, but Patty has always stayed faithful to the farm.
32:10I've stood by him for years, even during the vigilante's self-defense days.
32:22Despite fearing for their lives, his workers have no choice.
32:27We're scared.
32:29But what can you do?
32:30Have you thought of leaving?
32:34Yes, yes, many, many times.
32:37But because of all of this insecurity, there's no work around here.
32:43But it's the same situation everywhere.
32:46It's the same situation everywhere.
32:51The cartel now has a stranglehold on the line trade.
32:56The traffickers started by extorting a land tax of $120 per hectare every month.
33:03Then they demanded 5% on all sales before taking it even further.
33:09The producers used to harvest from Monday to Saturday.
33:12They told us we could only harvest three days a week.
33:17Sometimes twice a week.
33:19Sometimes only once.
33:21The reason for this was that the price of limes was too low.
33:27The cartels have a perfect understanding of the laws of supply and demand.
33:32By creating a shortage, they've forced the price up.
33:35In Mexico City, at the central de Abasto, the price of limes has become prohibitive.
33:43From $1 a kilo, it has risen to $3.5 a kilo in only a year.
33:50The ripest limes are at 420 pesos.
33:54Now I'll take the cheapest ones.
33:57This is a real consequence for Mexicans that eat them every day.
34:03Now, a large amount of the produce is sold abroad.
34:10Life never stops at the market.
34:1324 hours a day, lorries come to unload their merchandise.
34:16But the most surprising of dances takes place right here.
34:24This is alley three.
34:25It's the loading and unloading zone.
34:30This is where everyone comes for wooden crates.
34:34A business run by just five families that chair this area within the market.
34:39We don't have much space, so we have to adapt.
34:48It takes an acrobat's skills to do the stacking.
34:53The only option is to climb.
34:57To heights of up to 80 feet, the equivalent of an eight-storey building.
35:05Millions of wooden crates are piled up here, where every inch counts.
35:10Guillermo has been recycling and setting crates for 40 years.
35:15He hopes his two sons will soon take his place.
35:19I'll show you how the crates are repaired.
35:24Guillermo has a dozen employees.
35:29Like Rosendo, who's had the difficult job of nailer for the last 30 years.
35:33You can crush your fingers with a hammer or nail in your hand in a moment of inattention, workplace accidents.
35:44There's a technique to nailing.
35:49Rosendo repairs 700 crates a day, and he's not lacking agility.
35:59Could you beat Michael Jordan?
36:02No, I couldn't take on a professional player.
36:05This is just my job.
36:06For Rosendo, sadly, being a nailer is less profitable than being a basketball player.
36:14Four cents per crate, which adds up to $25 for a 13-hour day.
36:19Even his boss, Guillermo, isn't a rich man, but he's proud of his trade, and that's what matters to him.
36:26This type of recycling is more ecological. It avoids destroying nature.
36:37What's more, it's cheaper for customers.
36:44They cost 25 pesos new. Recycled, they cost between 10 and 20 pesos.
36:50For years, the crates were thrown away, but now they're a source of employment.
37:03The central, the Albasta, gives work to over 100,000 Mexicans.
37:11A market that has made some people rich.
37:15Coming tomorrow?
37:18Yes, boss.
37:20Okay, I'll pay you.
37:23Thanks.
37:25Go on, do your best.
37:26Yes, thanks, boss.
37:27See you.
37:31Don Ramiro pays the market's green space workers from his own pocket.
37:36He's not the boss of the area, simply one of the market's richest traders.
37:40I have trees planted so that the central is a better place to be in, for its workers and visitors.
37:50But I do it willingly, as I owe everything to the central.
37:58Don Ramiro is a farmer's son.
38:01From setting onions, he's now at the head of a fortune worth tens of millions of dollars.
38:05Hello, everyone.
38:09Hi, how are you?
38:12Everyone knows his story.
38:15An ambitious young man of 20, arriving here from one of Mexico's poorest provinces.
38:21Hello.
38:23Okay.
38:24When he first came, it was to sell his family farm's modest onion production.
38:3350 years later, he now sells over 250 tons a day.
38:40Even though it's unnecessary financially, he still comes to the market every day.
38:45It's part of the family ethic.
38:47This is my woman, my wife.
38:50How do you say it in English?
38:53You say my wife, my partner.
38:56She's my wife. This is a family business.
39:01A very rich family, but not ostentatious.
39:05This is my youngest son. He works in the freight sector.
39:08Does all your family work with you?
39:13Yes. I would have liked them to study.
39:17But they prefer to work here. They enjoy it.
39:21They like being in the fields. They like being farmers.
39:25As well as his family, he employs nearly 1,000 people.
39:30Hi. Get everyone washing.
39:34They're starting to arrive by 8 in the morning.
39:37There'll be about 80 people here.
39:39They work like this in families.
39:44The central market is a bit like the Mexican fruit and vegetable stock exchange.
39:49Here, where the trucks unload, is where the day's prices are fixed according to supply.
39:54Hi, Lecho. So, what's the price of onions this morning?
39:59Medium size, already peso.
40:02That's good. Not too pricey.
40:04No.
40:06Okay. Gotta be going.
40:10When the prices are right, Don Ramiro buys more than just onions.
40:15I'm visiting the market stars.
40:18How much are the tomatoes today?
40:20140.
40:22140? That's not expensive.
40:24Vegetables that he sells throughout Mexico and exports the US.
40:31Lovely peppers. How much are they?
40:333 pesos.
40:35They're cheap because I've got a lot.
40:37Do you have to know all the prices?
40:39Yes, because our buyers call us all day long for price variations.
40:44And if prices change, we have to tell them.
40:46I need to take the market's pulse almost every hour.
40:55Selling his onions is more complicated.
40:59You have to keep moving in there.
41:01It's hard work.
41:03One stage in the process requires a lot of hands.
41:07Cleaning and peeling.
41:09When they arrive, they're often dirty or damaged.
41:13The workers remove all the bad bits to make them look perfect.
41:17Like this ready-to-eat onion.
41:21A laborious task, but which enables numerous people to earn enough to feed themselves.
41:28The workforce is hired on a daily basis.
41:32It's our first day.
41:34When we arrived this morning, we tried the tomato sector, but they were full.
41:39So we came here and they needed us and we were hired.
41:43Thank God.
41:45Philomena and his wife, Eva, are from a little village, a two-hour bus ride away.
41:51How much does the work pay?
41:52We were told we get 30 pesos per sack.
41:56One and a half dollars for peeling 34 kilos of onions.
42:01We'll try hard during as much as we can.
42:04Anyone who turns up here can work.
42:09We don't ask for qualifications or identity documents.
42:13We pay cash at the end of each day.
42:18The harder you work, the more you get.
42:21Don Ramirez always refused to buy machines to do the job.
42:28He's well aware of the role he plays on the reality of his country's social situation.
42:34It would be cheaper for us to use machines for the work.
42:38Paying people is more costly, but at least we're making work.
42:44Creating jobs is more important to us.
42:48There's no social security in Mexico, no unemployment benefit and no pensions.
42:57Hello, what have we got here?
43:01The poorest are from some distance away and have no other choice but to bring their children.
43:11Where are you from?
43:13From the Vico Valley.
43:16It's quite far away.
43:20Like many of the workers, Abel can't give his family a home.
43:25They live in conditions of extreme hardship.
43:28You live here?
43:31Yes, with my wife and kids.
43:35My daughter is seven, my son is four, my baby is a year and ten months.
43:41Is that your bed?
43:43Yes, we put carpets under the covers because it's cold here at night.
43:49What about toilets?
43:51There are toilets out there but they cost six pesos.
43:57So we hold it in, in order to save money.
44:04Don Ramiro has opposed the authorities that want to evict poor labourers' families.
44:09A fragile population, whose numbers multiplied in the last two years due to record inflation.
44:18Today, almost one in every two Mexicans lives on less than three dollars a day.
44:24What did you throw away?
44:27Small courgettes.
44:29Aren't they any good?
44:30They're no good to sell, but still good to eat.
44:35Every day there are more and more gleaners at the market.
44:38They take what they can to survive from the 850 tons of waste thrown away by the traders each day.
44:47What have you picked up?
44:48A lettuce and some coriander.
44:51With the current situation, we have to pick up all we can get.
44:55Our living conditions are very difficult, you know.
44:58I have a little business and I sell all I can.
45:05A peso is a peso.
45:10How do you feel about going through the rubbish?
45:13There's no shame in it.
45:14It's so that we can eat.
45:17It's better than stealing.
45:20The Central, the Abaste, distils all the problems in Mexican society.
45:26The extreme poverty, but also the endemic corruption.
45:33In the market, the sellers either own or rent their stalls from the Central's controlling authority.
45:39Then there are all the others.
45:4410,000 itinerant traders who each morning find a pitch wherever they can and set up without official authorization.
45:53A giant bazaar with sellers of socks, bags, toys, clothes and every kind of thing imaginable.
46:00Milton is one of these street sellers.
46:03He arrives at 5.30 every morning with his wife and three children before taking them to school.
46:10Pass me the bulbs.
46:13For the last 15 years, seven days a week, he's been setting up his stall of hardware and trinkets.
46:19It's seven o'clock and time for breakfast.
46:23Itinerant traders like us eat our breakfast here in the alley.
46:30The Central becomes our home because we arrive very early and leave very late.
46:36Itinerant traders have no official status but they pay rent every day to the market's agents.
46:46It's all off the books.
46:50This video shows an angry trader assorting one of the agents.
46:59The trader maintains that he paid for his pitch some time earlier.
47:02It often happens.
47:05This opaque management is condemned by all the street sellers like Milton.
47:10To sell here we have to pay a tax of between two and five dollars a day,
47:15which amounts to a lot each week.
47:17I don't know how some manage to pay it.
47:21This money never appears in the Central's books.
47:24And beware those that refuse to pay.
47:27In retaliation, these agents can be seen confiscating the modest wares of an un-corporative trader.
47:34According to Milton, the market's administration behaves like the mafia.
47:39These organizations extort thousands of pesos from traders in exchange for protection.
47:45Not a legal protection, but one that serves shadowy financial interests.
47:49It's why we denounce corruption, the protection system.
47:55It's all about money here.
47:57Money that's shared out between the Central's management and the rest of its members.
48:01This immense Mexican market has always been run by private trust and government-appointed functionaries.
48:17An organization with a dubious reputation, regularly condemned for corruption and its presumed links with the cartels.
48:24As a consequence, the Central's ex-director is currently behind bars.
48:31Julio Serna Chavez, the market's ex-director, will remain in prison for unjust enrichment.
48:38In 2020, the Mexican government put eminent economist Marcelo Villegas at the head of the Central.
48:44A controversial and heavily criticised choice.
48:51Demonstrators demand the resignation of the Central's director.
48:55Several months ago, an anonymous group posted a threatening video on social media.
49:00This letter is addressed to you, Marcelo Villegas. We know you're highly corrupt.
49:07And we're ready to put an end to the mafia you've created with the Central's security personnel.
49:16There have been demonstrations outside the administrative office almost daily.
49:21Marcela Villegas agreed to meet us.
49:24In front of our cameras, she played the transparency card without denying corruption issues.
49:33Wiping out corruption is my major objective.
49:36It's difficult.
49:38And it will take time.
49:40Our personnel have already changed their way of behaving.
49:43And we're attempting to prevent the abuse of power internally.
49:46When I'm made aware that one of my personnel has been demanding money, I launch an enquiry.
49:53But it's a slow process, and obviously not to everyone's taste.
50:00In the meantime, at grassroots level, life is still just as difficult for small traders like Milton.
50:07Tea towels, rechargeable lighters. We have them here and they're cheap.
50:11Working seven days a week, 13 hours a day, Milton earns barely enough to survive.
50:21Come on, Alberto, let's go.
50:24Dad, will you carry my bag?
50:26Yeah, sure.
50:28It's heavy. It's got all my books.
50:32To become a good citizen and improve your life, you need to work hard at math, reading and writing.
50:38The only time off that Milton allows himself in a day is to take his children to school outside the market, a 40-minute walk away.
50:55Careful, son.
50:57There are no red lights, so we'll only cross when the traffic stops.
51:04And that was the first bit.
51:06Come on, run.
51:09The itinerant seller hopes his children will have a different future, far from the market, its insecurity and daily dose of violence.
51:18The itinerant seller hopes his 52-7 now World Local
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