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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2005 
Mexico City Prepares Crackdown On 'Pirate' Mariachise
 Rafael Cabrera - El Universal
| | Some unlicensed practitioners of the distinctly Mexican musical form are committing crimes, say officials. |
Mexico City — Rising unemployment and a lack of areas in the city for performers of traditional music has given rise to "pirate" mariachi groups operating in the capital's Garibaldi square, say authorities. And these illegal performers are not just competing with licensed musicians, say law enforcement officials: they are also engaging in carjackings and muggings.
So, to combat the problem, the city's Secretary of Public Security (SSP) plans to launch a program called "Músico Seguro"¨or "Safe Music," during the second half of the month. The aim of the program will be to decommission those mariachis operating without proper city accreditation.
According to José Luis Tamayo, SSP director in the historic center, there are some 1,700 fully licensed mariachis operating in the city.
But he says that these groups are being threatened by more than 800 mariachis from the surrounding states of Mexico, Puebla, Guanajuato, Morelos and Tlaxcala, who flood the city on weekends and holidays to compete for customers.
Tamayo says that those involved in criminal activities, such as carjackings, are often among those groups aggressively hailing passing cars along Reforma Avenue or near the Palace of Fine Arts.
He says that when a group of criminal mariachis is hired by a passing motorist, they climb aboard, and then shortly thereafter, invent an excuse for the driver to pull over. At that point, they either pull out a gun or assault the driver and make off with the vehicle.
Sergio Olvera of the Mexican Mariachi Union says that he is pleased with the plan for the Músico Seguro program. "The real musicians, we belong in the plaza. The outsiders, they hardly know how to play. But we are a family of musicians dedicated to the mariachi craft."
Plaza Garibaldi has been Mexico City's center for mariachi music since the 1920s, when the cantina Salón Tenampa opened on the square and began attracting performers of the traditional music. |
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