The municipal president of Puebla, Adán Domínguez Sánchez, separated the city council from the conditions that prevail in La Cuchilla, after the Office of the United States Trade Representative located said commercial area as one of the three places in the country where substantially facilitates trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
“It is a private place, it is not a municipal market, it is not in charge of the Puebla city council and the power to review the origin of the merchandise and the rights that have to do with copyright, intellectual rights, etc. does not belong to the city council of Puebla, it is of the federal order,” Domínguez responded when questioned on the subject.
The United States document indicates that La Cucha is “the largest trademark and copyright infringement market in southeastern Mexico, because it has at least 120 warehouses and 150 stores dedicated to activities related to piracy, However, the mayor pointed out that the federal government is responsible for prosecuting this crime and the city council can only collaborate in that regard.
“We as the Puebla city council are not the ones empowered for this purpose, it is the federation, we are always attentive and if the federation requires support from us to carry out an operation, we can do so if appropriate. We do not have the power to review whether what is sold is legal or illicit, whether it is pirated or not, as I have said, it is not a municipal market,” he insisted.
Although the president was questioned about the project that was being held with the state government to expropriate the properties where the La Cuchilla flea market is located, he briefly responded that this was the responsibility of the executive.
It is worth mentioning that in October 2023, the now former mayor, Eduardo Rivera Pérez, announced that the expropriation could not be carried out because the owners of the premises had acquired rights, in such a way that other strategies would be sought against criminal acts in coordination with the State.
Socialization of the pedestrianization of 21 South will continue
In another vein, the municipal president indicated that the pedestrianization of 21 South, between 13 and 19 Poniente, will continue to be socialized, after several neighbors continue to express rejection of the proposal.
“There is always that fear on the part of merchants that their sales could go down. Let them come and ask the merchants on Sweets Street, or come and ask the merchants on September 16. There is the result, the pedestrianization increases sales and increases the value of the real estate of those streets, so it is normal, it is part of this socialization process,” he said.