Ely Guerra changes her image, and maybe Mexico City’s

Looks like Mexican rocker Ely Guerra is changing her image again. In the process, she may help buff up the image of one of the world’s most misunderstood capitals: Mexico City.

According to the Mexico City newspaper El Universal, the musician -- a female pioneer of Spanish-language alternative rock -- has been recruited this season to be a spokesperson and frontwoman for the Campaña de Verano (Summer Campaign) by the secretary of tourism for the Distrito Federal, or Mexican Federal District (Mexico City).

It’s a media-savvy choice. Along with artists such as Julieta Venegas and Natalia Lafourcade, Guerra represented a new breed of Mexican and Mexican American female rockers who emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s: eclectic and independent.

Since launching her career two decades ago, she has undergone several style makeovers as well as multiple artistic re-inventions, as her work has assimilated elements of rock, folk and jazz. Perhaps best known stateside for her 2004 album “Sweet & Sour, Hot y Spicy,” and her contributions to the “Amores Perros” soundtrack, Guerra has switched pop personas nearly as often as Madonna or David Bowie. At one time, she sported a short blond bob. In another phase, she became one of the first female Mexican performers to rock an Afro. In yet another incarnation, she favored Joan Baez-like black bangs while earnestly strumming an acoustic guitar.

In her new role as civic ambassador, Guerra’s going for a more grown-up, cosmopolitan look. An El Universal online photo gallery shows the Monterrey-born singer-guitarist striking designer-label poses in various landmark locations throughout Mexico City, including the venerable La Sala Nezahualcóyotl theater. She’s also depicted standing in front of a well-known mural, and savoring a cocktail at a bar on Calle Regina (Regina Street) in the capital’s Centro Historico, a thoroughfare that the Mexican government designated as a “cultural corridor” a few years ago.

Guerra’s photogenic presence could come in handy right now. Although Mexico City has been largely spared the worst of the drug-related violence that has claimed 50,000 lives in the last six years, the country as a whole has suffered a substantial drop-off in foreign visitors.

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