Tenacatita Update 5/13/13

Posted by Dobie on May 14, 2013, 7:18 am

After months with no news, there has finally been some forward movement. On May 8, 2 members of the Rebalsito ejido and fishing cooperative, along with several lawyers and associates, went to Mexico City and filed a denuncia (formal complaint) with the Attorney General’s office relating to the events that took place on August 4, 2010 when the beach was taken over and everyone was forced to leave their homes and businesses. It also included events that happened later that night, when drunk security police came into town and terrorized people, shooting guns into the air as well as firing rubber bullets, storming into houses and roughing people up (including minors and an elderly man). Other federal offences, like cutting the mangroves, were also noted. 

Individual denuncias were filed with the county shortly after August 4, but never went anywhere. It was obvious what side the government was on. Meetings with state and federal officials (when they happened) were a sham. The fact that the denuncia filed last week was accepted is a good thing. Hopefully this time the charges will be investigated and the papers won’t languish in the desk of some bureaucrat. 

The other positive news is that SEMARNAT (the environmental agency) won the amparo filed by Rodenas regarding the concession. To briefly review, Rodenas’ concession (the right to use federal property, in this case, Tenacatita beach) came up for renewal in 2012 and SEMARNAT refused to renew their permit. Then SEMARNAT gave the concession to the municipality of La Huerta. Rodenas filed an amparo (similar to an injunction) against La Huerta and SEMARNAT which has prevented La Huerta from taking possession. Although SEMARNAT won, the case still has to go through a review, and then a final decision is made. Usually whoever wins the case, wins the review because the decision can only change if new information is introduced, but this is not always the case. 

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In a nutshell, the amparo was lost because the judges said the plaintiffs weren't able to prove possession before 1999 when possession was given to la Sra. Paz Gotazar after she won the amparo against the ejido. She never took possession. Although the lawyers submitted documents proving possession (in some cases) before that date the judge ruled that the ejido had no legal right to transfer properties since they never owned the land, therefore the papers of cesion de derechos from the ejido weren't valid.

The lawyer said, "It is illegal for the District Court to raise the validity of the documents that supported the legitimacy of the possession, because that is not the subject matter of our amparo claims. The validity of such documents must be discussed in a civil court, where the parties would be able to produce arguments and evidence to support the validity of the same".

Three of the plaintiffs have titles or fidecomiso for their properties. The titles were granted starting in 2006, signed by the President of Mexico. These 3 can go through another process to demand from the federal government indemnification for their losses, since the it was the federal government that gave them the titles.

The lawyer says, "We disagree with the court ruling. We believe it creates an absurd, and that it leaves defenseless bona fide acquirers. We are really frustrated and disappointed of our courts". (He writes in English for the benefit of the non-Spanish speakers. As you can tell, English is not his native language.

Oddly enough, some members of the ejido have won their amparos, however their lots are not in the 42 hectares.They have a judges order saying that Rodenas has to allow them to take possession of their lot and fence it. But so far no judge has showed up on the assigned dates to enforce the judicial order. There are many different lawyers and individual amparos involved in this case. Also the ejido as a whole has an amparo which would affect all properties that were on ejido lands.

El Registro Agraria Nacional (RAN), that expedites the titles, says the titles are valid. By studying the original documents, they have finally delineated the 42 hectares that Rodenas bought. It's a rectangle with 4 points, N,E,S,W. The papers have been falsified to show more than double that amount of land, and now there are over 50 different reference points.

Meanwhile the amparo that Rodenas filed against the municipio of La Huerta and SEMARNAT regarding the concession of the beach, has yet to be resolved.

This is surely the long and winding road.....as we approach our 3rd holiday season with no beach. However, there are excellent restaurants at the boca del rio (La Mosca and Chely) and the river is delightful for cooling off; but please don't go in the ocean there - it's dangerous.

dobie