The stage is set
The most iconic avenue in the Mexican capital is changing its face. Within hours of the demonstration on Sunday, March 8, Paseo de la Reforma and Juárez Avenue dawned with a new decoration: metal fences and wooden planks covering windows of hotels, restaurants and museums.
It is a clear preventive measure. The authorities seek to avoid damage to establishments during the mobilization. But seeing this display generates a strange sensation, as if the stage was being set for a performance whose script we still do not know.
Selective protection in neuralgic points
The operation is not uniform. On Juárez Avenue, emblematic places such as the Sonora Grill restaurant, the Barceló Hotel and the Hilton are already protected with these barricades. Even a Telmex branch had to cover its windows with wood.
The staff of the Ministry of Citizen Security was in charge of placing these protections.
Meanwhile, on the Paseo de la Reforma, the Reforma 222, 180 and 226 shopping plazas also show their metal defenses. They have access enabled, but the visual message is forceful: here we prepare for whatever comes.
The curious thing is the contrast. A few kilometers away, in the vicinity of the capital’s Zócalo, businesses remain without visible protections. It seems that the official bet is to concentrate efforts in this specific area, perhaps anticipating where the bulk of the demonstration will pass through.
My father always said that in politics (and in his street expressions) every precaution counts as a forecast. These fences don’t just protect glass; They are a thermometer of what the authorities expect to happen this Sunday. The street theater is ready. All that remains is for the curtain to rise.
