One Wing Low in Tijuana

[One Wing Low]

Was in La Zona Thursday night.

The street was heavily patrolled by Policia Municipal in their pick up trucks, motos and the holding van. No Policias Federales or Army troops were seen.

Policias were holding their M4 carbines ready to fire riding in their trucks. They were searching lots of guys at the Coahuila and Ninos intersection, emptying out their pockets. Lots of guys were arrested. Guy without IDs were loaded into the pick up trucks, while serious offenders were loaded into the windowless vans. But a lot of people were hanging out, eating at that corner unmolested. It seems policias know their target criminals.

Moto cops stopped many cars, both with US and Mexican plates, on Coahuila in front of Hong Kong. It would be wise to avoid driving on that street.

On the way back at midnight, 2 policias pick up trucks parked and blocked the dark and desolate Ninos Hereos, dealing with suspects. I backed the car out and went alternate route. There were no policia presence anywhere outside of la Zona Norte. The whole town was dark and deserted.

[ScatManDoo]

There were two large protest marches by paraditas that were conducted by starting from the alley and ending at city hall. Both marches were conducted in September 2004, which was three months before Jorge Hank Rhon became major of Tijuana.

This news artitcle written in January 2005 describe the September 2004 marches and a little about the street girl organizers:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/P...ll-2703544.php

Some of the contents of the article:

"Then city inspectors ordered Monica and Juana and all the other prostitutes off the streets and inside the smoky bars and hotels. The new sidewalks, the inspectors said, were for tourists, not the dozens of hookers who crowd the doorways and sidewalks of Callejon Coahuila.

The women — called "las paraditas," or "the little ones who stand" — rebelled, triggering a classic only-in-Tijuana civic battle that pitted community leaders against the city's storied and stubborn tradition of vice.

In September, their faces covered with blue handkerchiefs, about 200 prostitutes gathered in La Coahuila, as the red-light district is known, and twice marched across the city in a show of civil disobedience that culminated with a threat to strip on the steps of City Hall. City officials backed down and offered a compromise.

It was a fittingly raucous standoff for a city trying to impose order in the area that helped give birth to its unruly reputation. Try as it might, Tijuana's efforts to create a new image reflecting its transformation into a thriving arts center and Mexico's land of opportunity inevitably collide with its colorful, often seedy past.

The drama "had all the elements: sex, hookers, police, La Coahuila, johns," said Victor Clark Alfaro, director of Tijuana's Binational Center for Human Rights.

Today, the "paraditas" remain outside El Burro Bar, the Eduardo Hotel and the Miami Bar, a streetwalking tradition that has drawn American men south of the border for generations.

"I want to stay standing where I've always been,"said red-haired, 44-year-old Monica, smoking a cigarette outside El Burro,"so I can keep providing for my children."

"Marta, a tall, brown-haired 42-year-old mother of six, starts working at 5 am She said business is good at that hour because drunk men come stumbling out of bars looking for sex.

Susanna, a 26-year-old former mortician's assistant, leads men up a narrow staircase to a tidy room above El Burro, where she points with pride to a collection of stuffed monkey dolls piled on a chair. ".

"The city redevelopment project was going as planned until city inspectors showed up one day and told the "paraditas" that they didn't fit into the streetscape's new image. Monica and the others remember being shocked when told that they would be fined $100 for standing in front of El Burro.

The women knew next to nothing about politics. Most have grade-school educations. But Monica and Marta, both grandmothers, said they had a lifetime of experience in negotiating with hard-headed men.

"We weren't going to stay silent," Marta said.

After the "paraditas" protest marches brought about a compromise, city leaders acknowledged their mistake in assuming that the women would prefer to do business indoors, an attempt to "dignify" their working conditions.

Though keeping the hookers off the street remains the goal, bar owners and political leaders have come up with a new plan: creating sitting areas in hotel lobbies where the women can meet clients in comfort.

There will be cushy couches, television sets, tea and coffee service.

Whether the plan works, the battle over Coahuila Alley has been an important lesson for city leaders, said Clark, the human rights activist, who arranged for officials to hold meetings with the prostitutes. ".

All of these events happened when Jorge Hank Rohn was was the 'mayor-elect' of Tijuana. The street girls faced off against Tijuana's then mayor, Jesus Gonzales Reyes:

"Offering help were the Mary Magdalenes -- a group of prostitutes from a neighboring street who had organized years earlier to protest police harassment.

"Las Magdalenas" had experienced success in dealing with City Hall. A few years ago, when police ordered them off the streets, the women threatened to go public with a list of community leaders who frequent the district. The leaders backed off.

The Mary Magdalenes and Marilyn Monroes marched out of the red-light district and 2 miles across town to City Hall.

"I felt like I was in Spain, except instead of the 'running of the bulls, ' " it was the running of the hookers, a man who witnessed the protest wrote on a prostitution Web site. "This is not a sight that you get to see very often -- a sex workers' street demonstration. ".

The next day, the women locked arms and formed a human chain, blocking both entrances to Coahuila Alley. No one was allowed to cross.

The protests escalated two days later, when the women marched back to see the mayor. After he refused to see them, they threatened to disrobe on the steps of City Hall.

"Let them come up, we don't need a show," then-Mayor Jesus Gonzalez Reyes told police, according to receptionist Imelda Echevarria."

[Captain Solo]

I was kidding ScatManDoo. So don't butt your face in get ugly.

I remember clearly Jorgue Hank Rhon was dealing with the chicas' demonstrations as mayor of Tijuana.

It's possible he was dealing with them sometimes in 2004.

WTF is this shit? You made yet another boneheaded comment, SMD proved that you had no idea what you were talking about, and then you get pissy with him for it? You should be thanking him.

Some of us strive for accuracy. I, for one, appreciate it when SMD points out inaccuracies in my posts. You don't have to agree with any of our opinions, but there is no reason for this sort of childish nonsense.

[Phordphan]

I wanted to ask ScatManDoo a personal question, if his research was done by any of his smart friends, like the hairy trannies on Calle Primera?

WTF is this shit? You made yet another boneheaded comment, SMD proved that you had no idea what you were talking about, and then you get pissy with him for it? You should be thanking him.

Some of us strive for accuracy. I, for one, appreciate it when SMD points out inaccuracies in my posts. You don't have to agree with any of our opinions, but there is no reason for this sort of childish nonsense.

[Captain Solo]

[Deleted by Admin]

EDITOR's NOTE: This report was edited or deleted to remove references to Transvestites/Transsexuals/SheMales. As provided in the Forum's Posting Guideline, members may not discuss Transvestites / Transsexuals / SheMales. Please read the Forum's Posting Guidelines for further information. Thanks!

[ScatManDoo]

It is child's play to show that the alley's sidewalks were improved prior to Jorge Hank Rohn becoming Tijuana's mayor.

Here is an article published in San Diego's Union Tribune on October 11,2004 talking about the City's push to move all the street girls into lobbies and out of the sidewalk's alley. That push happened After the alley's sidewalks were improved And Before Jorge Hank Rohn became mayor.

If you look at the pictures taken of the alley for this October 11,2004 article, you can see a portion of the improved alley sidewalk.

http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/me...-1m11move.html

This board's Streetwalker's section was begun in January 2006, so I cannot reference a report from ISG.

In my 10 minutes of research I ran across an old Tijuana trip report, Alleykay #16, written by Country John that he wrote in July 2004.

I will not mention the other board where Country John posted his report, since that would be a violation of this board's rules.

I also will not post a link, like I did for the Tribune article, because that too would be a violation of ISG board rules.

But I think I can quote Country John from that nearly 11 year old trip report:

"Man, they sure got the alley torn up good. I talked to the guys doing the work. They are laying new water and electrical lines underground. The plan is to rehabilitate the area and build new storefronts etc. The girls will most likely be moved but they added that this would probably NOT happen for a while, if at all.

No mistake about it, a LOT of money changes hands there so they ought not fuck with that.

Hooked up with my man JTull after trolling AB and the alley a few times. I was hoping to see him for some fastrack info on the babes and he did not let me down. It's like a walk through the candy store with JTull. A real hombre. ".

And now lastly I call on Wikipedia to report the time when Jorge Hank Rhon was mayor of Tijuana:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Hank_Rhon

Per Wikipedia, Mr. Rhon he served from December 2004 to February 2007 as the president of the municipality of Tijuana.

If you want to credit some mayor of Tijuana for cleaning up a mess on the La Gloria corner that existed in 2008.

It sure as heck wasn't Jorge Hank Rhon.

[Jackie888]

BTW there is serious construction going on as they are adding floors on top of a club on the corner of Constitution and the entrance to the alley. I bring this up because they have taken zero precautions to safety. I remember a couple of years ago back here in the US, a poor girl was hit in the head by a hammer that fell during constuction and lost her eyesight. So walk AROUND that building, not next to it.

[One Wing Low]

Unless Scatman Doo can produce court-certified true copies of all documents confirming dates and times of the project, Jorgue Hank Rhon gets the credit for helping the sweet chicas of Coahuila with a nice, clean, classy work place.

[ScatManDoo]

The alley was all torn up in June & July 2004. The repaving was part of a project to lay new electrical lines and other infrastructure and had been in the planning process for years prior. Most of the repaving was completed in August 2004.

Jorgue Hank Rhon was elected mayor of Tijuana in an election that was held on August 1, 2004. He was sworn in at a later date.

I'm just trying to set the record straight because others play it fast & loose with the facts.

[Captain Solo]

Back in about 2008, the corner of Constitucion and Coahuila in front of bar Gloria had a large trash bin with putrid trash and mud all around that corner. Every time I walked past, I had to cover my nose and walked fast.

Mayor Jorgue Hank Rhon did clean up the mess at that corner, making it nice, clean, civilized, allowing a few more food stands to sell at that corner. Jorgue also cleaned up and repaved Coahuila alley, making it nice, clean, safe street to walk and gawk the young, pretty chicas. But his bid to move all paraditas indoors to work inside bars or lobbies of hotels backfired. The chicas prefer to show and rent out their assets outdoors in full light.

Suddenly there were huge demonstrations with crowds of 200 to 300 people, walking from Coahuila to city hall, Yelling, shouting, waving Mexican flags, demanding the recall of that ordinance. I was watching the demonstrations but could not recognize any chicas or any local people associating with the local sex trade. The demonstrators must have been bused in from Oaxaca or Chiapas by the Communist Party to screw mayor Jorgue. After a couple noisy and highly publicized demos, our beloved leader Jorgue, La Zona major benefacto, did fold like an old man who ran out of Viagra.

Personally I think It would be much classier and more dignified for the chicas to sit down in some bars to wait for johns. I hate to see some of the prettiest and sweetest young girls stand around all day in the sun and rain to make a few bucks. But nobody can predict what the hell women want and you just cannot fight the good traditions.

One thing that I noticed is that section of Constitution doesn't smell like a sewer like it used to. They're doing the same thing on LOS Heroes.

[Jackie888]

City hall put in the median on Constitucion with lamp posts and palm trees.

Man. La Zona will soon be a classy and world-class vacation spot with lots of beautiful babes to entertain visitors. I just cannot think of any justification to go anywhere else for food, fun and companies of pretty young girls.

Tijuana is cleaning up and making lots of progress primarily around La Zona. You can guess why.

One thing that I noticed is that section of Constitution doesn't smell like a sewer like it used to. They're doing the same thing on LOS Heroes.

[Captain Solo]

City hall put in the median on Constitucion with lamp posts and palm trees.

Man. La Zona will soon be a classy and world-class vacation spot with lots of beautiful babes to entertain visitors. I just cannot think of any justification to go anywhere else for food, fun and companies of pretty young girls.

Tijuana is cleaning up and making lots of progress primarily around La Zona. You can guess why.

[Jackie888]

Mexicans also share a commonality with Filipinos because of their common Spanish history. There are a couple of mixed Asian girls in HK with one Filipino parent or grandparent. Alot of Tangolish speakers actually toss alot of Spanish into their conversation. And of the Mexican girls I know back here in the states prefer a Filipino for a boyfriend above other races. So while we see them clearly as 2 different races and cultures, they don't see it as clearly.

[Naked Gunz]

He was very upset that Mayweather won the fight, swearing and calling him all kinds of ugly names. The MC and other HK strippers were also rooting for Manny Pacquiao. Not sure why.

Mexicans can be pretty racist. My Mexican co-worker invited me into his home for a fight (Felix Trinidad v. Vargas). He was a nice guy, but when I walked in I felt the air leave the room. I guess they wanted to use the (N) word all night for Trinidad.

[One Wing Low]

We were hanging out at the seafood taco stall in front of bar Gloria, eating the shrimp taco with cheese.

A chubby street girl was having 2 tacos. She's pretty, but with big belly and everything else, like about 160 pounds.

Any way, after she finished and paid the tacos guy 50 P for the 2 tacos, she gave him 20 P for tip.

Tipping seems very prevalent in Tijuana, not sure about the rest of Mexico. I have seen Augustine, the HK manager, tip the parking attendant $1 for looking after his car. It seems even working Mexicans tip others for normal service. But at the popular taco stand on Ninos, nobody gives the cooks any tip.

HK strippers would give the stage manager about 40% of their takes, usually $4-5. That started after the big raid a few years back, like they have to pay someone for protection. I would give a few tips here and there just to be on friendly terms with the people working in those bars. HK security guys were checking every guy at the door, squeezing their balls etc. I never tip the security guy, but they seem to know me well, so just drag me in.

I also give the coat girls, Miriam or Blanca, tip if they process my VIP card quickly and get me my free drinks. I gave the old, fat bathroom attendant on 2nd floor $1 and told him it's good for 5 pisses. He was laughing. He speaks English. He was very upset that Mayweather won the fight, swearing and calling him all kinds of ugly names. The MC and other HK strippers were also rooting for Manny Pacquiao. Not sure why.