Tlapa

Tlapa is an impoverished community hidden in the mountains of Guerrero, a state south of DF most famous for its coastal city of Acapulco. Its name hints at its pre-Spanish origins; this was one of many communities that helped the Spanish to overthrow Aztec rule, only to become enslaved by the conquistadores they had just helped. Today, Tlapa is the commercial center of the region, which is not really saying that much at all. Without any remaining industry, Tlapa exists now only as a lost town surviving on government subsidies. Many of its inhabitants speak no Spanish. Its main source of legitimate income is money sent home by men who have migrated to the United States to work, mostly in New York City. However, most of its revenue comes through the narcotics trade, making this area a rather xenophobic and anti-American part of Mexico.

Arriving in Tlapa, I was at first surprised at its size. I was expecting a rural village; instead, we found a city with 70,000 inhabitants. Colorful taxis, pickup trucks, and paseros drove people through dilapidated streets and the dried-out riverbed, where families set up tents to sell their wares. State guards with automatic rifles stand on street corners and stray dogs roam the dusty side roads. We did ride the mobile healthcare unit to the smaller populations in the mountains to find scenes more similar to what I had expected, but it became clear that few people in DF actually know what Tlapa is like, which explains why we were given so little information about it.

This is not to say that adequate healthcare is not a crucial issue for this town. It may not be rural, but Tlapa is still very poor and its inhabitants do not trust the hospital, which has a reputation for allowing patients to die. The other source of healthcare is a clinic run by medical students on their mandatory service year. They are excellent people, and do their best given what they have, but there is no accountability for standard of care.

Oh, and I was slightly relieved but mostly disappointed to discover that there were, in fact, no scorpions in Tlapa.

Bus stop












The mountain town












Children by the well












Children posing near the clinic