Community organizing in Colonia Guerrero

Vecindades were old houses in Mexico City’s central areas subdivided into small apartments when their affluent owners moved to new neighborhoods. Apartments were organized around central patios and had communal bathrooms and washing areas. For decades, rents were frozen, and landowners did no maintenance work on buildings. In the seventies, residents started organized to prevent evictions and reinforce roofs in danger of collapsing. Hundreds of vecindades fell in a massive earthquake in 1985. Previous community organizing experiences multiplied as the people of Colonia Guerrero and others collaborated in rescue and reconstruction efforts. Their work shaped the political history of Mexico City and beyond.