MAIL ONLINE

Tuesday, March 29 2022 Back to Main Site

News

Main Site Sections:[Home] [U.K.] [News] [Sports] [U.S. Showbiz] [Australia] [Femail] [Health] [Science] [Money] [Video] [Travel] [Shop] [DailyMailTV]
News Section:[Latest Headlines] [Russia-Ukraine War] [The Queen] [Prince Andrew] [Prince Harry] [Meghan Markle] [World News] [Covid-19]

Mexico's wealth gap laid bare: Extraordinary photos show how the rich live side-by-side with the destitute in the unequal society 

|

Mexico is a country of amazing contrasts and nowhere is the division between the wealthy and the impoverished more starkly illustrated than in the capital, Mexico City. 

Aerial photographs show a wealthy district - with private schools offering tennis, basketball, and a well-maintained pool - right next door to a barrio which only has a misshapen football pitch.

These dramatic shots, taken by photographer Johnny Miller, show that sometimes only a wall or a highway divides people whose incomes are a world apart.

'Mexico is also one of the most unequal countries in the world,' he said. 

In the Santa Fe district of Santa Fe (pictured), land is at such a premium that developers have begun carving out middle class housing estates from the surrounding slums. Affluent Mexicans are often only a wall or a highway apart from their impoverished compatriots

The contrast is no less stark at ground level. Brand new white-washed middle class homes have gone up (right) next to slum areas, where the homes are made of grey brick (left)

Miller said: 'The wealthiest one percent of Mexico's population earns 21 percent of the nation's total income, a percentage higher than any other country in the world. Significantly, much of that wealth is concentrated in just a few multimillionaires.'

Telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim, 76, is one of the richest men in the world, with a net worth of $46billion.

Miller also took photos of the slums of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, which he described as looking like 'gigantic workers' colonies'. Almost two million people live in this area, in poor districts like Chimalhuacan and Ixtapalapa. 

Barrios extend down a ravine in Mexico City's Santa Fe neighbourhood (pictured) and are divided from the wealthy elite by a highway bridge

The same neighbourhood is shown from the air here. The luxury tower blocks are surrounded by beautifully landscaped parkland (right) while the barrios are teeming, with people almost living on top of each other (left)

Miller said: 'Triple-decker highways and gigantic tunnels bore through the mountainous terrain.

'Towering skyscrapers, enormous cathedrals and one of the world's largest squares sit impressively atop a gigantic drained lake.

'Everywhere there are signs of the Aztec empire which came before - in the street names, the festivals, the food, and the eyes and skin of the population. It is truly one of the most fascinating cities I've ever been to.' 

In the area of La Malinche (pictured) the barrio (left) is cheek-by-jowl with a wealthy area. A private school (right) offers tennis, basketball, and a well-maintained pool, while barrio only has a misshapen and dusty football pitch

One of the most divided districts is La Malinche, named after a 16th century slave woman who acted as translator between the Spanish conquistadores and the indigenous Nahuatl-speaking people of Mexico.

She later became the mistress of conquistador Hernan Cortés, and bore him a son, and in 1524 married another Spanish invader, Juan de Jaramillo, and had a second child. 

La Malinche is regarded by some Mexicans as a traitor, because she helped the Spanish conquer Mexico, although in reality she had little option but to go along with the Spaniards. 

The size and scale of the housing arrangements in Mexico City is as fascinating as the wealth inequality between the two sides. Newer, more affluent housing with red roofs (right) contrasts with the slum homes, which tend to have flat roofs, often used as community spaces or for laundering clothes

Mexico City (pictured) was built on the remains of the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. The Spanish captured the city, which was on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1521 and the lake was filled in. Nowadays 21 million people live in the city and its suburbs

More than any other city on Earth, Mexico City is divided between the haves and the have-nots. The current Mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), has tried to cut down on pollution, crime and traffic congestion

Mexico City (pictured) is in a natural bowl, which tends to exacerbate the city's air pollution problems

The skyscrapers at the top of this hill represent the wealth of the elite who live just on the opposite side of this highway bridge

  

 

Top

Mexico's wealth gap laid bare: Extraordinary photos show how the rich live side-by-side with the destitute in the unequal society