General Information

The neighbourhood of Tepito is occupied by the colourful tianguis (an open-air market), operating there since pre-Hispanic times. Since then it has also been a lower-class area known for crime; it is infamously known as the “Barrio Bravo” – “fierce neighbourhood”. Most crimes perpetrated there involve the piracy of counterfeit goods, but it is robbery that gives the area its bad reputation.

Additional Information

Despite its reputation as a crime-ridden area, Tepito is also home to a subculture that has attracted the attention of academics and artists. Art exhibitions have been based there and the area boasts a number of literary journals to which residents contribute. The neighbourhood is located in Colonia Morelos in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, bordered by Avenida del Trabajo and Paseo de la Reforma.

The Name: Highlights

The name Tepito comes from the Nahuatl “teocali-tepiton”, meaning small temple or chapel. There is a folk etymology for the name as well. The story states that when a group of policemen went on their rounds one night, one advised the rest that “Si veo a un ratero te pito” (If I see a thief, I’ll whistle at you), with the last two words fusing to become the name of the area.

History: Highlights

Archaeological finds indicate that in early Aztec times Tepito was a poor area that lived by fishing and other activities related to the lake which was then situated there. The area was subdued by the Aztecs quickly, and its original residents were barred from trading in the nearby Tlatelolco market. It soon became a place to stay for those bringing goods.

History: Explained

At the time of the Spanish conquest, there was a small temple called Teocultepitan, which the Spaniards shortened to Tepito, eventually making it the name of this area which was still outside of the city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). Similar to Aztec times, this area became filled with inns for caravans of donkeys and other transport bringing goods for the markets of Mexico City. At the same time, indigenous merchants who had lost their wealth and status from the Tlatelolco market settled here to trade. They were joined by caravan merchants who decided to stay. Tepito remained outside the city proper until well into the 19th century, with life here relatively unchanged. When the railroad was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it took over the task of bringing goods to market, and the inns that sheltered merchant travellers became tenements. In 1901, the decision was made to close the El Volador market, the last major tianguis in the city centre, just south of the National Palace, and relocate the merchants to the Tepito area. The reduction of buildings here to tenements and the overcrowding resulting from the influx of Cristero War refugees turned the area into Mexico City’s first slum. By 1945, it was considered one of the worst places to live in Mexico. Houses here were not really houses but rooms, varying between thirteen and twenty-five square metres grouped around common areas without sanitation facilities. These groups consisted of ten to fifty units and were called “vecindades.” Given the conditions and cheap rents, the area attracted delinquents such as drunks and prostitutes. After World War II, the city froze rents, which was supposed to be temporary. The residents, however, have not permitted a repeal of their low rents, which have essentially remained unchanged since this time. For decades, both government and developers have tried to transform the area. Mayors promise to clean it up and owners of the land there have tried various legal and other methods to get rid of the current residents to sell or redevelop the property. Coordinated plans to transform the area have tried to move residents to the outer parts of the city but residents here have resisted successfully so far.

Crime: Highlights

Tepito has always been populated by the lower and alienated classes. Even in the pre-Hispanic times there is evidence that some of the merchandise sold here was stolen goods. Most of the criminal activity in Tepito occurs in the form of selling counterfeit items and stolen goods, but it also includes trafficking and assaults.

Crime: Explained

Seven out of ten pirated or counterfeit products consumed in Mexico go through the neighbourhood of Tepito. In 2009, federal agents confiscated there fourteen tonnes of pirated audio and video, dismantled an audio laboratory and arrested three people during a raid. In an earlier raid, federal and city police seized twenty-five tonnes of illegally copied material and contraband cigarettes. PROFECO (Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer) analysed twenty-nine randomly selected alcoholic beverages sold in Tepito and results indicated that all were counterfeit and adulterated, not matching the brand of the packaging. In October 2006 in the early morning hours, a hijacked truck with three men on board was steered to a parking lot in Tepito by two cars without license plates. Waiting for them was a group of youths, who quickly unloaded the truck of its contents – closed boxes with Asian writing on them. In less than half an hour the truck was empty, and the truck, cars, youths and boxes had all disappeared. It is said that each week dozens of trucks are led here to be so treated. While the sale of counterfeit or stolen goods is still the main crime in Tepito, drug trafficking has made inroads as well. The sale of counterfeit goods have begun here in the 1970s and vendors here used to bring them here from ports and the US border by the truckload. Instead of sending the trucks back empty, contact between these merchants and drug traffickers has been established so that the trucks now return with loads of marijuana. Their ready availability has now made drugs a problem for youths in the area. Arms trafficking, including assault weapons, has also escalated in Tepito, to the point of becoming a local “phenomenon”. However, the crime which causes the neighbourhood’s reputation of being “bravo”, or fierce, is robbery. Thieves track people who come to the market and look to see who makes what kinds of purchases. Then the chosen victims are confronted. Most of these confrontations do not end in violence as the threats are usually enough to intimidate the victim. Another popular method of robbing is to assault a pedestrian while riding by on a motorbike. In 2006, 317 robberies against people in the street were reported for this area.

Social Structure: Highlights

Most residents who live in Tepito do not want to leave, as they were born there. Residents also have some of lowest rents in the city, which compels many to stay as well. This neighbourhood has had the most success resisting modernisation, preserving many of its traditions and customs. The social system here is communal, rather than individualistic.

Social Structure: Explained

On the surface, Tepito seems to be a maze of neighbourhood, economic, social and other organisations. Most leaders are never formally elected. The informal social structure, however, is where the power is. If a leader or anyone speaking for the area is doing poorly, the residents talk among themselves until there is a consensus that they should be replaced and with whom. Many sociologists, writers, singers, filmmakers, journalists and anthropologists have been interested in Tepito and its way of life because in many ways it is the origin of many of the attitudes and cultural expressions of Mexico City. Tepiteños (residents of the area) have their own slang and other forms of expression, some of which have been copied by the middle and upper classes. This neighbourhood has been the political model for many of the very poor areas in other parts of the city.

Asian Presence: Highlights

At the moment, there are approximately 2500 Korean merchants operating in Tepito and the eastern streets of the historic centre. Chinese and Koreans own about 75% of the buildings where the tianguis is concentrated. The “Chinese,” as most Asians are called in Tepito, began by establishing stalls selling novelties from their homelands.