www.theguardian.com<\/p>\n
T<\/span><\/span>wo days after Rosario Islas\u2019s cinderblock shack collapsed in Mexico\u2019s massive earthquake last week, a group of political operatives turned up at her ruined home, in the borough of Xochimilco in the south of the capital.<\/p>\n They had food, water and building materials \u2013 but before they would hand anything over, they demanded Islas show her government-issued voter ID.<\/p>\n Parties often use such information to track potential voters \u2013 and even to sign them up as members without their knowledge. But Islas was unable to comply.<\/p>\n \u201cIt told them it was buried under the rubble,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat little we had was all lost.\u201d<\/p>\n The party operatives moved on \u2013 taking their relief packages with them.<\/p>\n Mexicans have responded to last week\u2019s 7.1 magnitude earthquake with an outpouring of neighborly charity, civic activism and national pride.<\/p>\n But some politicians and public officials have been accused of trying to take advantage of a tragedy that has left more than 300 dead and many more homeless.<\/p>\n The contrast has caused outrage in a country where corruption scandals and pervasive impunity have fueled a deep mistrust of the political class and the state structure.<\/p>\n Such is the depth of skepticism that some relief workers went out of their way to stress that they were not affiliated with any grouping.<\/p>\n On a recent morning, a group of young people from another\u00a0Mexico<\/a>\u00a0City neighborhood brought blankets, building materials and food to Xochimilco, a poor municipality best known for its network of canals and artificial islands.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not from any political party,\u201d said the volunteers\u2019 leader V\u00edctor Hugo Arzate, a consultant.<\/p>\n Arzate\u2019s caution was probably well-advised: several politicians have been jeered when touring earthquake-hit areas. Last week, President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto was booed by students as he toured a damaged town in his home state.<\/p>\n \u201cGrab a shovel,\u201d shouted one of them.<\/p>\n In Islas\u2019s community of San Gregorio Altapulco, where 13 people died, locals ran off the Xochimilco borough chief, Avelino M\u00e9ndez, last Thursday, chasing him through the streets and pelting him with stones.<\/p>\n Locals say that much of the immediate disaster response concentrated on richer parts of the capital and official help was slow to reach Xochimilco.<\/p>\n \u201cThere hasn\u2019t been any assistance from the borough, the Mexico City government or the federal government,\u201d said Sergio de los Santos, one of the many small farmers in San Gregorio, who grow lettuce, spinach and greens on artificial islands known as\u00a0chinampas<\/em>.<\/p>\n Other grievances with local officials predate the earthquake \u2013 the rutted road into town, poor water service and too many unkept campaign promises \u2013 but the earthquake brought such frustrations to a head, said De los Santos.<\/p>\n \u201cThey ran off the borough chief because he hasn\u2019t done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n If the disaster prompted an outbreak of national unity, it has also revealed the depth of discontent with the country\u2019s political class.<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s political parties were due to receive roughly \u00a3165m in public funding in 2018, an election year, but following calls on social media from activists and celebrities, all the main groupings have pledged to divert part of the money towards earthquake relief instead.<\/p>\n Yet, few of the politicians have got their hands dirty.<\/p>\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen a single cabinet member hauling a bucket of rubble away from a building,\u201d said Adri\u00e1n Rueda, a local political columnist.<\/p>\n In the state of Morelos, one of the regions closest to the quake\u2019s epicenter, Catholic bishop Ram\u00f3n Castro accused the state government of diverting aid packages so that it could claim credit for the supplies.<\/p>\n Morelos\u2019s governor, Graco Ram\u00edrez, denied the allegations, but was jeered by crowds as he toured the state on Sunday.<\/p>\n Some have seen echoes of Mexico City\u2019s catastrophic 1985 earthquake, in which thousands died and survivors were left to fend for themselves in the face of an inept federal government response.<\/p>\n That episode indirectly led to a political upheaval in Mexico City, where the left won power in 1997 and has ruled ever since.<\/p>\n Some analysts believe that the 2017 earthquake could bring about similar change in the country\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n Il\u00e1n Semo, a historian at the Iberoamerican University, said that issues such as housing and reconstruction will come to the fore in next year\u2019s election campaign and could galvanize voters to create new political organizations.<\/p>\n But he warned that the traditional parties would want to prevent such a development. \u201cThey don\u2019t want people to organise over this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" www.theguardian.com Two days after Rosario Islas\u2019s cinderblock shack collapsed in Mexico\u2019s massive earthquake last week, a group of political operatives turned up at her ruined home, in the borough of Xochimilco in the south of the capital. They had food, water and building materials \u2013 but before they would hand anything over, they demanded Islas show her government-issued voter ID…. 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