Latest from Dobie

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

News on Tenacatita

As much as I hesitate to post this because of past dissapointment over the progress toward opening Tenacatita and giving the beach back to the Ejido ... here it is.  Still a wait and see game.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to the day when there will once again be free access to Tenacatita beach. The concession (right to develop the beach) has been given to the County of La Huerta as a tourist destination. Rodenas' concession was revoked for non payment of taxes and it wasn't renewed because at the time Rodenas applied for renewal, they no longer had a concession to renew because it had been revoked earlier. La Huerta has said they will return possession of the beach to the ejido.

Ultimately it looks like Rodenas/Villalobos may lose everything, even his supposed 42 hectares. The ejido lawyer, Everardo Rojas Contreras came to a meeting yesterday in El Rebalsito to give an update on what's happening legally. Although the woman Villalobos bought the land from in the early 90's, won a Supreme Court decision against the community of El Rebalsito, she never took possession of the land. Villalobos assumed her decision would apply to him too, but with legal decisions, you can only get what you ask for and it turns out Villalobos never asked for possession of the land, he just took it. Another mistake Villalobos made is in 2006, when property titles, signed by the President of Mexico, were given to the individuals (Mexicans and foreigners), who were in possession of the land Villalobos is claiming, he never contested them. Now he's saying they're not valid; but titles in Mexico are meant to be the ultimate security that the land is in fact yours and no one can take it away (except, of course, the government if they want to expropriate it for a road, airport, etc.)

The State Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of the ejido in October, saying the beach was to be returned to the state it was in before the eviction on October 4, 2010. Rodenas appealed. The appeal was heard on Dec. 28 and the decision should be forthcoming soon. Rojas says he's 99.99% certain we'll win the case.

In July, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect a new president, residents of Jalisco will elect a new governor, and locally we'll be voting for a new head of the county of La Huerta. All these positions are now occupied by members of the PAN party (the party of businessmen and the rich). Fernando Guzman Perez is running for governor. As secretary to the present governor, Emilio Marquez, he was instrumental in allowing Villalobos to violently evict residents and tourists from their homes and businesses on Tenacatita beach. When leaders of El Rebalsito went to Guadalajara (capital of Jalisco) to try to reach a compromise with Villalobos, Guzman Perez took Villalobos' side and didn't even let the people present their case.

Now that elections are coming, he seems to have changed his tune. He knows that in order to win the election, he needs votes from the coast. Rojas says he's working with Guzman Perez, who is now inclined to help get the beach opened. Of course it's hard to trust a turncoat, but at least he won't be actively fighting against us. Rojas has been meeting with other state officials and there's lots of support for opening the beach and allowing people to go back to work. With the bleak economic picture in Mexico, taking away jobs is not a very popular subject. Rojas said they're trying to get the beach open before Semana Santa (Easter time), when Mexicans take to the beaches in droves.

Rojas began the meeting in town by thanking me and all of the extrajeros (foreigners) for our help in the struggle. That includes all of you (this email goes out to 100 people) who have contributed financial, emotional, moral and physical support to the people of El Rebalsito. In Mexico they say, "la union hace la fuerza" which means theirs strength in unity. I do believe that ultimately justice will prevail.

dobie

Tenacatita Update

Posted by dobie on March 22, 2011, 7:49 am

Unfortunately it appears that not much has changed at Tenacatita. The fence is still up, the gates are still closed, and access is still given very arbitrarily. At the last ejido meeting, a letter was read from SEMARNAT. Apparently they came to serve Rodenas with a fine for cutting mangroves and an order to replant the amount of trees that they had cut down. Unfortunately they weren't allowed in. On the legal front, the juicios (judgments) are starting to be heard. A new acuerdo (agreement) is being worked out by the government, ejido lawyers and diputado David Hernandez (the one who pulled the gate down with his pickup truck). It looks like they're trying to work something out before Semana Santa.

A reporter for a Mexican business magazine called PODER (POWER) was here last weekend interviewing people. She also had a 2 hour interview with Villalobos in Guadalajara. Her article is supposed to be done soon; she'll let me know when it's ready.

I know many people think the battle has been lost but I don't believe that. Villalobos hasn't started building anything - back in August he said that in 6 months there would be a hotel. The juicios are proceeding, which means many lawyers, judges, and engineers have been out to the property to see for themselves the destruction (although some have been denied access or told to come back another day).

La lucha sigue, Tenacatita vive

More from the Guadalajara Reporter

State police evict homeowners in beach community of Tenacatita

Villalobos has been trying the get the low-income families evicted from the land for two decades, ever since he purchased 42 hectares of Tenacatita beachfront land from the wife of a former state governor in 1991. (He apparently obtained the federal beach concession rights in 1993.) Many of the businesses on the undeveloped beach are palapa seafood restaurants that have been serving tourists and locals for more than 40 years.

Francisco Martinez Flores, the ejido (local land commune) commissioner for El Rebalsito, said the ejiditarios own the 42 hectares and have the land titles to prove it.

La Huerta Mayor Carlos Ramirez Nuñez called the eviction "unfair" and said municipal authorities would do all in their power to help the families return to their homes.

But if they get ever back to their homes and businesses, there may be nothing left of them. After the families left in pick-up trucks with their belongings – some making as many as 10 trips to and from the highway – police brought in heavy machinery, presumably to demolish the palapa huts and homes, and blocked the only road leading to the beach. None one was allowed in without an "official" escort. Both the La Huerta municipal secretary and a Puerto Vallarta-based Jalisco Human Rights Commission observer had to give up their cellphones and cameras to police before they were allowed to enter the area, according to reports from Spanish-language daily Milenio. La Huerta municipal cops who turned up to provide "additional security" were also barred from entering. The area resembled "a war zone," commented one foreign resident at the scene.

Guadalajara Reporter article