Police clear vendors from historic Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Police cleared thousands of street vendors on Friday from Mexico City's historic center where they have traditionally hawked trinkets, toys and tacos for hundreds of years.

The city's mayor ordered some 14,000 street salesmen out of dozens of blocks around the giant Zocalo square, which is home to a ruined Aztec temple, the city's cathedral and Mexico's national palace.

Stalls selling everything from plastic trumpets to fake Nike shoes have been banned in the area.

Only a handful of street salesmen defied the order to leave, which Mayor Marcelo Ebrard imposed in a drive to clean up the city center and make it more attractive for tourists.

Dozens of police, with riot helmets and shields, guarded almost every street corner of the center.

"I have a husband with stomach cancer, just imagine what will happen if I lose my job," said Maria del Rosario, 50, who was tending her stall that sell shoes and toy dolls.

"We have to fight. We eat from the money we earn by selling here," said the mother of three, one of the few ignoring the order to clear out.

Ebrard vowed to remove any remaining vendors by force by the end of Friday. He has offered to relocate the vendors to new markets dotted around the city, but outside the Spanish colonial center.

Many vendors chose to set up their stalls on streets on the edge of the no-vendor zone, which was briefly cleared of markets stalls once before in the 1990s.

One street, which has the landmark Torre Latinoamericana skyscraper, had no stalls on one side on Friday, but had a huge colorful flea market on the other side.

Millions of Mexicans are forced to sell cheap goods or food on the streets partly because there are not enough traditional office or factory jobs. And many salesmen prefer the tax-free profits they earn in their stalls.