The northsouth border has clear historical roots. It exposes old metropolises and colonies and inspires a very fashionable reading of the world Decolonialismwhich signals precisely the stability of this relationship that has shaped modernity. The idea is that the southern countries never got over colony status. They continue to be violently exploited and it is this plunder of the natural and human resources of the poorest that sustains the wealth of the rich north.
The northsouth divide is not just planetary. There is the South in the North 112 million poor people in the European Union (20% of the population of 28 countries), 40 million in the USA (11% of the total population) and the North in the South, as shown in all Latin American capitals. For the traveler with money, Quito is an organized, clean and orderly city. It has a spacious and wellkept historic center, a heritage site since 1978, and a safe area full of shopping centers and good restaurants in the new part of the city. In Quito, the geographical north zone is also the metaphorical north. Its most obvious symbol is the Parque La Carolina, huge and treelined, full of attractions that have nothing to do with… I wanted to write Parque Ibirapuera, but you could also say Central Park (New York) or Parque del Retiro (Madrid). instead of comparing, remains true.
By taxi or app you can travel from enclave to enclave, from the JW Marriott or Wyndham Garden to Le Jardín shopping center, to the cable car that climbs 4,000 meters up Mount Pichincha, to the star tasting menu at Restaurant Nuema or to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, where the latitude 0 mentioned at the beginning of the text is located. From New Delhi to Buenos Aires the names change but the logic is the same. And also the breaks.
In Quito, a 35cent trolleybus ride (Ecuador’s official currency, with George Washington on the bill and all) reveals the south in the north: the biarticulated collective is much more indigenous and black, and a mobile street market. From La Carolina to the historic center district, street vendors sell headphones, colorful pens, bracelets or simply ask for alms from anyone who can help as in São Paulo, Rio, Brasília or Salvador. The end point is the Playón de la Marin terminal, from which intercity buses depart to the south.
In Quito, the geographical south is the metaphorical south. With its back to the statue of the Virgen del Panecillo blessing the structured part of the city, a vast valley spreads along the slopes of hills with selfbuilt houses, streets with incomplete sidewalks and signs pointing out the absence of sidewalks the state points out: “Don’t steal here. Thieves are being lynched by the community.” Ecuador, once a quiet country, is experiencing a rise in violence related to drug trafficking.
As in Porto Alegre, BH or Recife, the north depends on the south to function. In the capital of Ecuador, hundreds of thousands of workers head towards the wealthy center every morning. Daniela recently graduated in journalism and lives in Mejía looking for a job in this field. Although nothing appears, he travels to Quito to take free or paid courses. The return journey takes two and a half hours.