Transvestites Take Over Barrio Amon
Hotel owners and resident of Barrio Amon assure that they are "fed up" with the "travestis" - transvestites - who have taken over their quiet neighbourhood.

Business owners, mainly hotel operators, say that they business has dropped and continues on the downtrend with ever growing presence of homosexuals dressed as women on their street corners.

The transvestites offer sex on the street corner, along with selling drugs and assaulting tourists. Business owners say that they have complained to police, but nothing seems to be done about the problem.

About three years ago, 20 local business owners, decided to do something about it and have been pressuring authorities. But their complaints seem to fall on deaf ears.

Transvestites stand at times in front of hotels like the Casa Morazan or the across the street from the Clarion hotel, offering sex and drugs for sale, causing problems for the hotel security who cannot take action as the Transvestites are on a public street.

Sporadic police raids have done nothing to solve the problem, said one hotel owner who remained to be anonymous for fear of reprisals.

Barrio Amon is one of the few areas where Transvestites have left to apply their trade. The number of hotels catering to "gay" guests has increased the Transvestite trade.

The usual hours for the Transvestites is at night.

Ana Margarita Keith, owner of the Casa Morazan, said that some of the business owners in the area have tried to organize, however, none of their efforts have had success.

Keith added that many Transvestites assault their clients as well as tourists and in the morning they (the business owners) have to go out with hoses to clean up the mess left behind, mainly used condoms.

Keith says that many of the Transvestites threaten the local business owners, like breaking storefront windows if they call the police.

Another hotel owner, Edgar Neidhardt, owner of the Hotel Kokoldi, one of the hotels that caters to a mainly gay clientele, is also upset. Niedhardt says that the Transvestites have brought nothing but problems for the area, making the area insecure.

Barrio Amon is one of the oldest barrios in the downtown area, once being a prestigious place to live. Today it is an important tourist area. A number of small hotels are located there, as well a number of "backpackers" hotels that cater mainly to a younger clientele.

Hotel owners complain that the Transvestites bother their clients when they arrive, offering them sexual services. In many occasions potential guests have turned around and left, the hotel owners say.

Jhonny Araya, mayor of the San Jose, says that in the coming weeks there will be "strong" efforts by the municipality to clean up the area. The mayor is firm that he will get rid of the Transvestites from the area.

Araya added that he will instruct his municipal police force to have a more constant presence in the area and to continually check for undocumented sexual workers, as many Transvestites working the streets are in the country illegally.

The municipality hopes that if they harass the Transvestites enough they will move out the area.

Years back, the municipality, the church and the Defensoria de los Habitantes, planned to create a "tolerance zone" for the Transvestites. Araya confirmed that that plan was scrapped but would not elaborate on the details.