Readers speak: an informed country is a powerful country

For Angélica Azuara, the newspaper stand where she has worked for 15 years is also her trench, in which she has had to evade and receive the darts of censorship from previous six-year terms, as well as from the closed minds of the PAN today.

This is why he likes to read and recommend to his clients. The Day, which he describes as the diary The most complete, the most truthful, does not have sensationalist covers, the red notes are handled with moderation, it always brings relevant information for the country, or about culture, science, the states; furthermore, it is clear to me that it is not obliged to speak well of the president..

As a way of congratulating the newspaper on its 40th anniversary this Thursday, September 19, the newsvendor invites those who make The Day I encourage them not to give up, to continue working as they have done until now, because an informed country is a powerful country, that is why Mexico has been strengthened with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, because with his morning press conferences he keeps us informed..

Originally from the Huasteca region of Potosi, Angélica was barely able to finish her secondary studies because she had to help her father support his family of eight people. However, her father left her a legacy that is still her pride: from childhood, like her six siblings, he instilled in her the habit of reading good books.

“My father was a country man, but he loved to read. He finished primary school as an adult, but he made us read, not stories like the one Weekly or something like that, but books. He would ask us for the summary and then he would make us do crossword puzzles. Today I am grateful to him, because, for example, the organ grinders who work on this very corner tell me that they get bored reading newspapers. It is not possible!

We must be informed, not like most people with a closed-minded PAN mindset, who normally do not inform themselves anymore, they go around like sheep because they do not want to lose their privileges. That is why in 2012 they said that AMLO was a danger to the nation, but he was not a danger to us, the workers, but to them who felt (and still feel) affected by his conditions.

At 49 years old, Angélica is a single mother of three young boys, the youngest of whom is in his second year of high school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her eyes light up when she tells us that her son wants to be a doctor and is very studious; he will be the first in his family to have a university degree.

He helps her open the newsstand and arrange the newspapers and magazines at 6:30 in the morning. Angelica does not close until 9 at night, because she is waiting for her son to get out of school.

I am one of the few people with ideals

“I tell my boy: ‘let’s give it our all, no way, life has dealt us this way, we don’t choose our circumstances, but we have to live them and face them.’ People have come here to offer me support, but they put conditions on it, they wanted to take me to marches, I told them: ‘either I work or I march.’ In this neighborhood they are very pro-PAN and some people have suggested to me: ‘come work with me, but give me a copy of your ID.’ They seek benefits through political convenience, but I am one of the few who has ideals; I could not be in a place where I do not believe.

40 inks and 40 years of @LaJornada

The Oaxacan painter #AmadorMontes made 40 drawings to commemorate the 40 years of #LaJornadathus continuing the tradition of Francisco Toledo and Rufino Tamayo. pic.twitter.com/bBVEUtom7u

— La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) September 19, 2024

I don’t have any support from López Obrador’s government either, but I believe in his ideals, because until he arrived my son was able to get a scholarship that they had previously denied him. When I started working on this corner, my child was in my arms, I sold newspapers between the cars, I brought my baby swaddled, and when he fell asleep I kept him in a little box with a lid. Someone asked me how was it possible for me to do that and I replied that unlike many people I don’t have a mother-in-law nor do I know anyone around here and my mother lives all the way to San Luis Potosí, so I couldn’t leave my son with just anyone. And here we are, earning our living. I don’t mind working all day, because I know that without sacrifice there is no reward.

The interview with the newsvendor takes place amidst interruptions because many drivers take advantage of the red light to ask her for a newspaper. She is also greeted with affection by the neighbors on foot who are on their way to the supermarket. Her stand is in the Coapa area, and she lives in Iztapalapa.

He reiterates that his job “is to sell all the newspapers, both left and right; I cannot omit any, but personally I prefer The Day, Although I also read the Reform because you have to know what lies he tells,” and he bursts out laughing to add: “I have a client who takes money every day The Metro y The Day, One day I asked him why he did it and he replied: ‘You have to read the worst and the best, to be able to compare.’

“Before the pandemic I sold up to 20 Conferences, But then it went down a lot because now my clients look for it on the Internet, but I tell them that the magic of reading is not comparable to having a printed copy, in addition to the fact that some issues are collector’s items, for example when Alain Delon died his photo was on the entire cover of The Middle Day, Or when Los Diablos won, a man came and took all the sports newspapers and The Day when he saw that it had the baseball team on the back cover.

“The most I have sold of Conferences It is the edition from when AMLO became President; that day they bought 57 newspapers from me, I had to get them at various points of sale because they are limited to newsvendors in the area, but that day I even paid a taxi driver to make the trip and get more copies.

“My clients know that I like The Day, I am a leftist; there are people who get angry and tell me: ‘well, I’m not going to come here to buy anything’, and I answer them: ‘just as there is freedom of expression, there are also many newspaper stands’. I don’t have to convince anyone if someone is not aware of the real situation we live in. I don’t argue with ignorant people because, based on their experience, I’m going to lose, so I’d rather let them pass,” he concludes.