Like a 68-story glass-clad monument to imperialism, the Mítikah tower is now the tallest building in Mexico City. Operating since 2022, it was designed and built by U.S. and Mexican real estate and architecture companies, including Fibra Uno, Parks Hospitality Holdings and Pelli Clarke & Partners. It is the biggest shopping complex in the city and also features residential and office spaces. By not recognizing locals as original peoples with Teotihuacan descendancy, authorities were able to avoid the legally required consultation before approving its construction. Now, water — a scarce resource in Mexico City — is being redirected to the luxury building, while locals are left without.
Avoiding community consultation is just one of the strategies real estate companies are using to build and profit, while displacing people and destroying environments throughout Mexico. These corporations are using a combination of corruption, ties with organized crime, intimidation tactics, forced evictions and some allege arson, to clear the way for them to build their empires.
Real Estate Mafia Methods
Just five kilometers from where I live, to the east of Puebla City, activists, locals and La Jornada newspaper have accused the real estate industry of paying people to start nine recent fires in the La Calera eucalyptus forest. Locals told La Jornada they saw men with gasoline drums entering the area, and that getting rid of trees could force a change in land use and a loss of protected status. The fires are happening right after locals and activists rejected municipal plans to increase the housing density in the area from 36 to 200 houses per hectare. The Social Well Being Collective, which aims to defend Puebla’s rivers and environment, alleges that some 20 real estate companies have obtained permits to build
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