Policías de Zihuatanejo de Azueta Denunciados por Tortura

"Propinan golpiza policías preventivos de Azueta a homosexual y dos de sus sobrinos"

El Sur de Acapulco, 24 de Octubre del 2009

Brenda Escobar - Zihuatanejo

Gabriel García Cruz, de 45 años de edad, vecino de la colonia irregular Convergencia, ubicada en la parte alta de uno de los cerros de Zihuatanejo, denunció que fue golpeado y amenazado de muerte por policías preventivos municipales, quienes además, allanaron su domicilio y golpearon con las culatas de sus armas a dos de sus sobrinos menores de edad.

Entrevistado este viernes por la mañana en la cama número cuatro de la sala de urgencias del Hospital General Bernardo Sepúlveda Gutiérrez, Gabriel García, quien es un conocido homosexual de militancia perredista, dijo a los reporteros que la agresión que sufrió de parte de los uniformados fue derivada de una discusión que en la madrugada del jueves tuvo con quien había sido su pareja durante 13 años, Juan Carlos Bustos Barrios, quien con una pistola calibre 45 lesionó a un policía preventivo cuando intentó detenerlo.

Gaby, como se hace llamar, explicó que la discusión con su pareja fue en la parte alta de la colonia Vicente Guerrero, a donde llegaron los policías porque los vecinos reportaron que estaba armado y hacía disparos al aire, por lo que cuando llegaron los uniformados, el individuo se dio a la fuga y se inició la persecución; en su huida, Juan Carlos Bustos disparó contra el policía preventivo, Maximino Arrieta Radilla, quien recibió el balazo en su brazo izquierdo.

A raíz de ese hecho, unos 30 policías preventivos a bordo de cuatro patrullas, llegaron al domicilio de Gabriel García Cruz, quienes allanaron su domicilio y empezaron a golpearlo con la intención de que les dijera el paradero de Juan Carlos Bustos, “se metieron a mi casa, rompieron mis pertenencias y se robaron documentos; a mi me golpearon y me pusieron una bolsa de plástico en la cabeza y me la quitaban ya que me estaba ahogando; uno de los policías quería que a fuerza le dijera dónde estaba mi pareja, por más que les decía que ya no vive conmigo, seguían golpeándome”.

Agregó que sus dos sobrinos, de 15 y 16 años también fueron golpeados; uno de ellos presenta un moretón en el tórax, producto de un golpe con la culata de uno de los rifles que llevaban los uniformados, “a los dos niños los obligaron a ver hacia la pared del comedor mientras a mi me golpeaban; los amenazaron diciéndoles que si decían algo, se los iba a cargar la chingada”.

Dijo que lo subieron a una de las patrullas, “me subieron con la bolsa de plástico en la cabeza, anduvieron dando vueltas y querían que les dijera dónde estaba Juan Carlos; como vieron que les decía la verdad, me dejaron en una de las calles de la colonia Buenos Aires; ahí un policía me dijo que me iban a bajar, que en cuanto pisara tierra me pusiera a correr. En eso otro policía le dijo, ´cuando él corra, le disparas´; cuando me bajé, me amenazaron que si decía algo, iban a regresar a mi casa y me iban a matar”.

El afectado hizo un llamado público al presidente municipal, Alejandro Bravo Abarca, “yo le pido que intervenga porque tengo miedo por mi vida y la de mis sobrinos; queremos justicia porque no se vale lo que nos hicieron, nosotros no tuvimos nada que ver en la agresión que esta persona le hizo a los policías, no era para que nos golpearan; si algo nos pasa, la Policía Preventiva de Zihuatanejo es la responsable, por eso le pido al señor presidente que intervenga”.

Fuentes del Hospital General informaron que el estado de salud de Gabriel García es delicado, principalmente por los múltiples golpes que recibió en la cabeza.

Ronda el fantasma del desalojo en Barra de Potosí

NINFA BRACAMONTES Despertar de la Costa - Zihuatanejo, Gro. Jueves, 28 Mayo 2009

Reza conocido refrán: con dinero baila el perro. Y sin dinero bailas como perro. Es lo que les está sucediendo a los pescadores de Barra de Potosí, mi estimado amigo; les ha llovido sobre mojado a estos cooperativistas. Los representantes de la empresa Interad SA de CV, Roberto Mario Guala y Pedro Olea Bracamontes, invitaron a estos humildes hombres del mar a una plática para notificarles que la empresa ya es dueña de la concesión de esa hermosa barra; que, con la pena, pero tendrán que salirse; ya no podrán seguir pescando en ese lugar, pues ese es un proyecto millonario que no puede incluirlos a ellos. Qué maravillosos empresarios. Bueno, eso usted lo sabe: cuando una empresa privada compra playa olvídese de que podrá volver a entrar a ella. Vea a Ixtapa, ¿cuándo imaginó que ya no lo dejarían disfrutar de ese maravilloso lugar? Estas empresas adineradas privatizan todo; después ni siquiera se puede uno asomar a sus lujosos edificios, mucho menos disfrutar la playa. Los empresarios comenzaron a hacerles propuestas a estos hombres del mar: que les pondrán una escuela de inglés para sus hijos, que cuando construyan sus chocitas de millones de dolarucos podrán trabajar ahí… Falso, señores, jamás aceptarán a esas personas en sus lujosas residencias. No mientan, es el primer factor que deben cuidar si quieren quedar en buenos términos con los pescadores; nunca van a emplear a estos señores simplemente porque no llenan los requisitos que ustedes necesitan; sus empresas millonarias son de lujo. Lo importante fue que estos empresarios propusieron a los pescadores que pueden quedarse hasta con 60 metros para anclar sus lanchas (no se hayan quedado pobres, señores), no sin antes advertirles que después de que construyan su marina ya no podrán estar ahí. Obvio, cómo creen que habrá lanchas baratas, apestosas a pescado, en una marina de ricos donde sólo habrá yates supermillonarios; además, dónde piensan pescar; desde el momento en que se dice privado termina todo, no hay vuelta de hoja. La Barra de Potosí tiene nuevos dueños, es una empresa llamada Interad, se ponga de cabeza quien sea; no hay nada que hacer, señores del mar; sólo que les faltara un sentido a los empresarios para dejar que les echen abajo su proyecto millonario. No piensen que este delicado problema será fácil de resolver, señores, tienen un grave problema; el gobierno y la empresa deben ser muy cautelosos al tomar decisiones contra estos pescadores. Es verdad que el dinero mueve montañas, pero a veces es el peor enemigo también, nos traiciona de manera criminal. No querrán tener en ese lugar maravilloso cuevas de delincuentes; si te quitan tu fuente de empleo haces lo que sea para llevar el pan a tus hijos. No es posible que sigamos retrocediendo de esta manera cuando debemos ir hacia adelante. Es lo único que nos falta, mi estimado amigo, que estemos como los hacendados: comiendo tortilla con sal estando el zarzo lleno de queso, no puede ser. Estos pescadores tuvieron la fortuna de disfrutar, cuidar, por años esa maravillosa playa, y ahora tienen que abandonarla sólo porque no tienen dinero para pagar una concesión que les pertenece por antigüedad. Digo, eso pienso yo, perdóneme si estoy equivocada. Claro que se le deben las puertas a la iniciativa privada, es una manera de que la economía de nuestro pueblo crezca, pero lo deben hacer sin destruir ni pisotear a nadie. La pesca es la única fuente de empleo de estas cuatro cooperativas, que en familias son como 200. Están en riesgo de quedarse sin nada, gracias a sus gobiernos nefastos; los funcionarios nunca saben nada, sólo miran los billetes que les dan, qué les importa la gente. Esa ha sido la mayor desgracia de la gente humilde. Ojalá que no se generen tragedias de las cuales tengan que lamentarse. Lo malo, como dice el dicho, es que al perro más flaco se le cargan las pulgas, al jodido siempre le toca la peor parte, es como si se pusiera con Sansón a las patadas. Lo que sí es verdad es la gran diferencia que hace el gobierno entre los ricos y los pobres; no se vale. ¿De qué diablos piensan que van a mantener a sus familias estos hombres del mar, si lo único que saben hacer es precisamente pescar? No jueguen. Lo que sí debe hacer urgentemente el gobierno, junto a estos empresarios, es buscar alternativas sanas para esta gente; no les pueden dar con la punta del pie. Con el poder adquisitivo que estas empresas tienen, deben proponer y cumplir las propuestas. Muchos empresarios no cumplen cuando firman convenios con la gente. Hay muchas cosas que les pueden proponer y que les genere dinero a los hombres del mar: los estanques acuícolas para cultivar tilapia, camarón, huachinango, las especies de la región. Puede ser una alternativa muy buena para estas personas, sólo se requiere disponibilidad de ambos grupos para acceder y cumplir lo pactado. Pueden quedar en buenos términos los empresarios, los pescadores y el mismo gobierno.

A Less Ethnocentric View of Violence in Mexico

Some folks accuse those of us who reside in Mexico of "being in denial" or "playing down" the recent US media reports of violence. It is not those of us who live here who are in denial of any violence but rather some folks who don't live here who don't understand the nature of everyday life in Mexico. Not just now but as it has been for centuries, and especially here in the state of Guerrero.

While we certainly are a violent country and have been further back than history records, that is simply in keeping with human nature. Mexico in general and Zihuatanejo in particular are no more violent now than they have been for decades, the recently reported deaths of narcos and police notwithstanding. No one minds narcos killing each other off, and many police are also on their payroll, so most folks aren't too alarmed when narco violence affects them.

Many folks from so-called "first-world" countries appear to have been successfully acculturated into believing the society they live in is some kind of "normal order" or "best way of life". What that shows is that they are basically ignoring everyday life in MOST of the rest of the world. We have our problems in Mexico, for sure, but we feel very fortunate in comparison to the sickness and depravation that manifests itself in so many other countries and regions and cultures. We haven't had the frequency or type of really sick crimes that seem to have become commonplace in some more modern industrialized "first-world" cultures. I'm sure somewhere in Mexico we've had a school shooting, but I can't recall it. While in the USA I've lost track of the school shootings, the Ted Bundy's, the John Wayne Gacy's, Son of Sam's, the shooting rampages, the homegrown terrorists, etc. The world has always been a violent place, and humans have always been one of the most extremely and irrationally violent animals. But to us here in Mexico and to many other folks around the world the USA seems to be much more dangerously violent than Mexico. Of course someone will respond "then why is everyone trying so hard to get into the USA?", which is an ethnocentric if not egocentric question. Not everyone is. And the question simply ignores the problem by attempting to dismiss it.

In Mexico the police and military and population at large outnumber the narcos immensely. There isn't ANY way we're going to allow them to cause our government to fall, as has been suggested in some hyped up media reports. What the narcos have done that perhaps we should be thankful for is to demonstrate the urgency in professionalizing and modernizing our police forces, as well as purging them and our government agencies of corrupt elements: a process in which we currently find ourselves and in which substantial progress has been made. Obviously we still have much more work to do in this regard.

We urgently need to purge the criminal elements from our police forces because for as long as most folks can remember too many of our police have been perceived to be criminals with badges, so if there's a lot of killing between police and narcos and corrupt politicians we really aren't too alarmed. We figure the number of bad guys is being reduced. It'll be a while before the police forces earn the trust and confidence of most Mexicans.

The only reason folks abroad are hearing about all this violence now is because the US media has been using fear to sell its "products". And with the economic crisis it is certainly in US interests to keep US tourists spending their money within the US economy.

Apparently many US folks are missing the glaring fact that US "illegal drugs" sales create a multi-billion dollar market with its associated mafias (remember the lessons of Prohibition) that arms itself with weapons also mainly manufactured and sold from the USA. So there is this gigantic incentive to keep those "drugs" illegal because it's good for the military-industrial complex, it's good for police and military budgets, and it's good for various other bureaucratic budgets. It's also good for illegal enrichment by corrupt public servants, and the funding of all kinds of "special interests" from investment development to running black ops to running small governments. It is no accident or coincidence that poppy production increased in Afghanistan after the US and "Coalition" invasion.

The violence in Mexico as reported by the US media has not affected our everyday lives. We have long lived with the spectre of violent crime, sometimes perpetrated by government forces as well as organized criminals, and we have long been accustomed to taking certain precautions to stay safe. Nothing has changed in that regard in recent years, though we are comforted to a certain degree by the increased military presence: something we have been clamoring for for many years.

A No Brainer
Obviously the lessons of Prohibition dictate that Mexico and the USA need to legalize or decriminalize certain "recreational drugs" in order to reduce the violence and diminish the power of organized criminals. If legalization or decriminalization doesn't happen then it will mean the pharmaceutical companies, alcohol companies, and military-industrialists win along with the corrupt public servants on both sides of the border.

It's a no brainer... unless you're brainwashed.

There isn't one person who wants to do "recreational drugs" who is prevented from doing so by laws or "the war on drugs". There is, however, a considerable profit motive for the special interests mentioned above by keeping up the stupid war. And perhaps the best part for them is the more drugs they bust, the more the prices for those drugs go up, the more crimes are committed by junkies and lowlifes to get their drugs, and they cause the very crimes they claim to be combatting, feeding the monster of their own creation, getting more budgets, more kickbacks, and more payoffs.

What gives anyone the right to tell anyone else what they can or can't do with their bodies as long as they don't violate anyone else's rights? Is not the USA a nation based on the concept of personal liberty? What's up with that?

Mexicans who provide what the market demands are entrepreneurs. It's a multi-billion dollar a year market that is stupid for a country with so much poverty as Mexico to simply overlook and pass up on. Narco money has allowed many forgotten and impoverished regions of Mexico and other Latin American countries to prosper. Heck, it's done a lot of good in the good ol' US of A, too where it's helped families who deal a little dope on the side to make ends meet and put food on the table and put kids through college! It's time to take this lemon and make lemonade.

Tales of Guerrero

Although it is the birthplace of Mexico's independence as well as its Constitution, Guerrero is a state that has long been under seige by ruthless caciques who apparently enjoy protection by elements within the military as well as all levels of government. To understand Guerrero it is essential to be aware of the suffering and injustice many of its communities live under. The ordeal of Javier Torres Cruz as well as his family and the entire community of La Morena in the remote sierra of Petatlán where he lives is one of those tales.

Last December 22 one of our regional newspapers, "La Jornada", published three enlightening articles about the recent 10-day ordeal, torture and eventual escape of Javier Torres from the soldiers and paramilitaries allegedly working for the ex-mayor of Petatlán as well as the terror his village has been subjected to for over 30 years. If you want to begin to understand our region of Guerrero, this is one of its typical and revealing stories repeated similarly throughout the state in other communities. For all the time that Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa have been mass marketed as tourist resorts, all this has been going on to the ignorance of most of the region's visitors. Nothing fundamental has changed here except the facility with which information can now be diffused and accessed. The following articles in Spanish represent just a small part of the many tales of Guerrero.

"El Ejército Me Desapareció", Confirma el Campesino Ecologista Javier Torres

Cunde el Miedo en La Morena; No Se Puede Ir a Cultivar la Tierra, Dicen los Pobladores

Desde 1985, las Incursiones de Militares y Gatilleros de Rogaciano Alba en La Morena

Water Shortage in Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo's water company uses the acronym CAPAZ (Comisión de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Zihuatanejo), which in Spanish also means "capable". I doubt there's a Zihuatanejo resident who isn't aware of the tragi-comic irony of their name since most of us refer to them as INCAPAZ.

Some sectors of town have not received water for weeks and months. At least one neighborhood says it has been without water for two years. Most residents have gone without water repeatedly for days at a time since before Semana Santa this year. The annual water shortage before the rainy season has never been this bad nor lasted this long.

Water service has noticeably deteriorated during the last 5 years or so, becoming an acute problem under the administration of our "current" ex-mayor who literally left us dry before resigning his post to campaign for a post as diputado federal in upcoming elections. Seems to be a pattern being set by the past two mayors from the same political party: screwitup beyond all repair or neglect it to death then resign before finishing their elected term to run for another post. "No re-election" doesn't mean our politicians can't jump from one post to another like a grasshopper, which is why we call such a politician a chapulín.

What both of them did was allow tens of thousands of squatters to invade our ecological zones, thus condemning Zihuatanejo to a very different and difficult future than it might have had otherwise. Of course, the municipal administration run by the party who fomented these invasions now finds itself unable to supply water, among other services, to the community at large. However, one of those politicians recently stated publically that tourist developments should have preference over the general community, which of course was met with indignation and outrage by the general public.

Many of us think that the community should come first over the tourists. Imagine that! Putting our daily needs over tourists' luxuries! If we're not happy then we certainly aren't going to be happily welcoming visitors here, you can bet on that.

The tourists that originally put Zihuatanejo on the map certainly put up with more hardships than not being able to shower off their suntan oil at the end of the day. Of course, the "modern" hotels couldn't operate or survive the way hotels had to back in the pre-Ixtapa days. Many of Zihuatanejo's longtime visitors remember making do with spotty water and electricity services. It was all part of the attraction spending evenings sitting around candles and kerosene lamps and playing backgammon and dominos and having conversations uninterrupted by anything louder than a battery-powered radio or cassette player. People today who visit Troncones and Barra de Potosí put up with similar hardships as our original repeat visitors, yet more and more people want to visit those places, which tells me that Zihuatanejo's original adventuresome and down-to-earth type of tourist market is still out there, though many have actually been chased away by our irrational overdevelopment.

But our current water shortage isn't a problem caused by tourism. It's been caused by promoting the theft of our ecological zones by political parties seeking votes, leading to irrational development and unsustainable growth. We've always had water problems, but we've never had so many people go without water for such long periods of time. Downtown usually gets some water every day, but for years the service has steadily worsened, and it seems every month or so there's another excuse why the service is interrupted for days if not weeks.

Zihuatanejo needs to get its house in order and update its infrastructure before allowing any more developments to be built. I don't expect the "responsible authorities" to be wise or altruistic enough to implement a building moratorium, but I keep hoping they'll surprise me and follow the example of many now-successful Florida communities that were facing similar problems decades ago and responsibly addressed them by imposing building moratoriums to allow their infrastructure to catch up to the demands of their growth. Unfortunately, it appears we are instead following to the letter the failings of Acapulco (which uncoincidentally has also been suffering a severe water shortage); right down to the sunken religious statue in the bay that nobody visits or cares about.

Of course what's done is done and now we must deal with it the best we can, which is why it is more urgent now than ever that we elect responsible politicians and hold them, their parties and our government to account. Fortunately, it's an election year and we're working on it.

And hopefully our visitors will give us a hand in the meantime by helping us to conserve water.

¡Viva Zihuatanejo!

Artificial Reefs in Zihuatanejo

On my Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa, Troncones and Barra de Potosí Message Board the other day someone asked what the government might be trying to sneak by us while diverting attention with the pier project that was never likely to succeed. How about the purchase of 1,500 cones measuring 1.5 meters tall by 1.7 meters wide at the base made of a special cement mixture for the purpose of creating "artificial reefs"? That'll probably stuff a few pesos in some "public servants'" offshore bank account. Does that qualify? Never mind that we're already killing, damaging and polluting the few reefs we already have. Why bother saving the reefs at Playa Las Gatas, Playa Manzanillo and Isla Grande de Ixtapa? Just build more!

From the April 8, 2008 edition of Despertar de la Costa:

Aprobó Ecología crear arrecifes artificiales en Zihuatanejo

*Especialista expone las ventajas de estos criaderos de vida marítima

GILBERTO GUZMÁN CARRANZA

Los arrecifes artificiales no son un peligro para la bahía de Zihuatanejo, pues no se construirán en ella, aclaró Jorge Alberto Terrazas, de la Fundación Arrecifes Artificiales Pura Vida, ante la inconformidad de ambientalistas para con dicho proyecto.

Después de la queja de los ambientalistas con respecto a los arrecifes artificiales, por la cual manifestaron que se alterará el hábitat de la bahía de Zihuatanejo, el integrante de esta organización dijo que es necesario crear ecosistemas, porque están dañados en la costa, están sobreexplotados y se acaban las especies marinas, como los corales.

Aseguró que por esta razón no se realizarán en la bahía, pero que se harán en playas de mar abierto, y que la bahía seguirá como hasta el momento, contaminada, pues la función de estos arrecifes artificiales es en gran parte limpiar y oxigenar el agua del mar.

Dijo que hay personas que no entendieron el concepto de los arrecifes, pero que la Dirección de Ecología ya dio la autorización de seguir adelante con el proyecto, pues está bien fundamentado, porque está avalado por maestros en ciencia, gente profesional que se dedica al mar, que son los que revisaron el proyecto.

En ese sentido, informó que ya se está llegando al sector pesquero, quienes lo están pidiendo, porque se dan cuenta de cómo funcionan los arrecifes, y que la directora de Pesca del estado de Guerrero está muy interesada con el proyecto, por lo que ya están en contacto para trabajar al respecto.

En Zihuatanejo ya hay tres módulos que fueron de prueba, los cuales, asegura, funcionaron correctamente y cumplieron lo previsto, que se ubican en la playa Varadero, playa las Gatas y playa la Ropa , “los cuales se encuentran llenos de vida, completamente, y están evolucionando y produciendo”.

El proyecto consiste en mil 500 unidades, para pesca sustentable de producción de peces. Explicó que no se tiene que hacer ningún tipo de excavación, pues son del tipo de cono o pirámide, se construyen afuera, para posteriormente depositarlos en el lecho marino.

Dichos conos miden un metro 70 centímetros de ancho, por un metro 50 centímetros de alto, con aproximadamente 15 centímetros de grosor, y con resistencia de 300 toneladas por centímetro cuadrado, “es como una piedra, se mete bajo el agua, los pedazos de coral que se ven en las playas, rotos por la gente o por las olas, son recolectados y se siembran en estos arrecifes”, precisó. Y son construidos con conchas de ostión, cemento, mineral microcílico que reduce el PH y lo hace más parecido al del agua.

“Los módulos aztecas —así los nombran—, están diseñados específicamente para que el agua atraviese por enmedio de ellos, cuentan con una cámara reproductiva, donde los peces entran para desovar y reproducirse, en el mar hay pocos lugares donde se puedan establecer”, explicó. Con esto, aseguró, se les ofrece un hábitat nuevo.

Dijo que todos los problemas, como el calentamiento global, afectan el mar, donde están todos los ecosistemas más viejos del planeta, y que los arrecifes las 24 horas del día producen oxigeno, a diferencia de las plantas; con los arrecifes se ayudará a crear más vida, y tener bancos de pesca nuevos, frescos, y los que ya están sobreexplotados se van a recuperar.

“Los arrecifes naturales con los que cuenta Zihuatanejo se recuperarán, van a volver a tener su belleza natural, como cuando no estaban explotados, y esto es muy notorio en el mercado, pues el pescado que se comercializa es de una sola especie, ya casi no hay de cuál elegir, porque estamos sobre explotando todos los recursos”, concluyó.

Best Time To Be In Zihuatanejo

The tourist crowds have thinned out in Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa since "high season" became "low season" after an early Semana Santa this year. Once again the pace of life in our seaside community has slowed considerably. Once again people in our community can take the time to have fiestas, take vacations, visit with friends, go to the beach, and catch a sunset. And ahhhh... what sunsets!

Click on the photo to enlarge it. Maybe you'd like to save it as your desktop background. ;~)

It's been almost a week since el horario de verano began, and most of us are still not used to the time change. The almost sacrosanct and favorite daily ritual of siesta is based on the position of the sun and the heat of the day, not on an arbitrary and variable man-made hour on a clock in England, so adjusting to the time change is problematic.

The nights are still refreshingly cool while the daytime temps have risen notably within the past month, but a heat wave is predicted from now until the rains begin possibly in June. Already our state of Guerrero has registered temperatures over 40°C in some places and fires are starting to break out as the burning season comes upon us and the skies grow a little hazier with smoke each day.

Nevertheless, the air still is fragrant with Pacific Ocean breeze and night-blooming jasmine, and more importantly: mangos are in season! ¡Auuuuaaaa!

¡Viva Zihuatanejo!

¡Viva México!

Development, Jobs and Saving the Zihuatanejo Community

From my message board this morning...

Don't suppose anyone listened to the excellent radio program this morning on Aquamarina 1410 (a local AM station with internet feed) where my friends and neighbors had a great discussion about the pier that included some of its proponents?

Of course, part of the discussion dealt with the jobs that would be generated by the construction project and the marine terminal services and the extra income from increased tourism the additional cruise ships are supposed to generate. Though I find that argument to have no other bearing on the pier proposal apart from propagandistic populist political purposes (the 4 P's?). It arose because of an article in one of yesterday's local papers that unemployment among youth is on the rise.

Historically such types of construction projects require skills not available locally, and the tendency of any large construction company here in Mexico is to bring most of their workers with them. Thus the local creation of jobs would be diluted by all the skilled workers and administrators that would be brought in, putting a greater demand on municipal services than there currently is, services that already cannot cope with the local population.

Our infrastructure is already failing and any city planning, growth and development can only be described as chaotic at best. Same with our traffic system. In our limited space between the hills we simply cannot grow any more without causing a severe deterioration in the quality of the environment and the quality of life, further straining if not eroding the fabric of the local community and probably driving away much our tourism except the weekend busloads. From the way they already flock to the Playa Del Puerto and even play in the canal (ewwwww) it seems those humble folks simply don't know any better and will swim in almost anything. But those tourists combined with the projected 100's of cruise ships a year are hardly the level of tourists that will maintain or improve Zihuatanejo's current standard of living. And when the cruise ship passengers start complaining of a foul odor coming from the water in the bay then even the cruise ships will stop coming, and if it's built we'll then be stuck with a useless pier that would quickly fall into neglect and deteriorate in the bay.

If the government were serious about wanting to create jobs locally it could easily put thousands of people to work building roads and infrastructure not only here but also in the forgotten and isolated communities of our mountain region. They could also support the farmers and help them modernize and develop new markets as well as attract new clean industries to diversify the economy.

But if the government were truly serious about creating meaningful employment they would first have to revamp the educational system and simply get serious. Teachers who don't work shouldn't get paid. Many are often on strike or take arbitrary days off or call themselves union administrators so that they spend little quality time in the classrooms if at all, often assigning homework without teaching lessons and spending more time on rehearsals for parades and presentations where it seems the "modern" dances they perform look more like table dancing than anything else. Our schools are failing and we can't expect much help resolving future problems from many children "graduating" from too many of our schools in the region. Of course too many still don't graduate at all, and illiteracy is still astronomical here.

A new pier or another tourist development simply isn't going to help us resolve any local problems but instead will certainly only create more problems. It is highly doubtful any of our local problems will be resolved until our public servants can clearly perform their jobs with professionalism, transparency, dedication, altruism and a sense of true civic duty instead of appearing to cater mostly to political and personal interests while ignoring the majority of their constituents, especially the benevolent counsel of respected community figures and leaders.

and Narciso who was born in the Zihuatanejo added...

Mexican teens and early 20's do not have the same pressure as their counterparts in the USA...(this in Zihua, you cannot apply the same model in Mexico city for instance). Usually parents will not have the pressure of mortgage payments and property taxes or other home related expenses. Growing up in the area I did not need lots of money to have fun. I played soccer, went to the beach a lot (it was my second home), enjoyed nature (BTW I also attended school). Food was relatively easy to get. My mom owned a home (not fancy but it was sweet home for us). I worked occasionally for some friends of my family and the pay was better than hotels or restaurants.

Right now I have a few nephews in their 20’s and some teens, and they would rather stay home than work for 5 dlls a day. Two of them have their own business and the other two work within the same family related business.

and Laura from Barra de Potosí also replied to a message from John Murphy, a real estate agent representing a tourist development project in Playa San Valentín...

The above posts are raising very important points relating to the manipulative fallacy of claiming that these kinds of projects are 'good' for the local economy. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I can't help but post here my answer to John's reply to me (way below) about the price on the Valentin property... and mostly his words (easily said but painfully misleading) that ...'jobs' are good for reducing poverty. I respectfully offer a differing perspective. To reduce poverty we must generate sustainable locally owned businesses and owner operated productive projects... owned by (formerly poor) locals...and not be deceived by the banner...'more jobs' while in fact the cost of living goes sky high and the entire life of locals becomes impossible in order to make way for an invasion of wealthy developers.

Read more detail below if you should be so inclined... it was late and I care about this so it's long (you've been warned):

Not too bad!... only $58 barros de los millones de verdes! I'll just be sending Brangelina an email now.

I agree the solution to poverty lies in education and economic development. But not 'any jobs at any cost'. It's important to look at the hidden effects of 'just any jobs'. Consider the Maquiladoras for example.

You haven't said exactly what kinds of jobs you think would help reduce poverty - or if just any job. But I think it might be fair to say we have a unspoken link implied in this conversation to this tourist development project - ie: mega-development = jobs = reduce poverty.

Even if you had no such thought in your mind somewhere, I'll go ahead and make the jump... to say something about the kind of 'solution to poverty and job making' that a mega-tourism development project is purported to bring - not speaking directly to you John at this point, or even just about Valentin but in reference to all the projects now planned for the entire coast of Guerrero, the 6 sites making up the 'Corredor Turistico' and 'BahiaMar'- just in the spirit of talking this out on a public forum.

These mega-projects are said to be planned as an answer the problem of poverty in the state of Guerrero. But a mega-project doesn't necessarily lead to the reduction of poverty for the most poor. In fact it is now well documented that it can and does produce a worse situation for just those it is purported to help. This is tricky.

Neither does it necessarily improve the lot of the middle class whom it might appear to be the most likely to help. I know that some families from Zihua and Petatlan in this position are now thinking they will fare well with a mega-project. But most, in talking with them more deeply on the subject, will say they considered themselves to be in a much better position before all this 'development' arrived. They may be able to get a job in a hotel or put up a tourist related business. But their costs of living have skyrocketed. Most importantly, in many cases their children tend to be lost... immersed in problems they feel little ability to resolve within their families (if their families still are together).

Many problems are new with development and range from the worst type - like maybe meth-amphetamine addiction - to the more socially expected in the north like rampant divorce, loss of connection/respect between parents and children and so on. Besides these things, if they haven't lost their homes because of higher taxes and difficulty competing with foreign businesses, many of their neighbors have and so they miss the old community... any community.

Meanwhile because of these same 'mega-developments' land prices have gone so high they are no longer at all even meaningful for local next generation who will have much difficulty even dreaming of owning a home unless it's in one of the Government sponsored 'projects' with government sponsored mortgages. (Have you seen these? - They are reminiscent of many of the now infamous 'projects' built in the States in the creation of ghettos - such as in Watts California etc.

Who really is helped for the most part in a mega-project are probably the high level investors, construction companies, facilitators (politicians in positions of governance) etc. We all know that really.

Meanwhile traditional communities are displaced and real poverty is produced. The banner of ...'it'll bring jobs' has to be really studied to see what reality it will actually create for the poor. Yes, some will have a huge late model trucks, amazing sound systems in houses made of cement and all the alcohol and drugs they may feel inclined to kill pain with. They better like those things because they will have less access to the beach, less time to be with their families and neighbors, fewer community events to enjoy with a community they can relate to, less self esteem as they more and more realize they are not the sovereign business owners of their places anymore... but merely the inferior servant class to a mostly foreign and wealthy upper class to whom they must smile to receive their meager paycheck which they utterly depend upon to keep that truck fueled up for getting to the job.

It will be argued that the taxes produced by the mega-projects would add much needed money to the coffers of the Fed, State and Municipal governments. OK but what have we observed in terms of the arrival of that increased tax base to the poor and all people in general in Mexico in public services? I doubt much need to be said about that.

It appears to me that there is much to be said about an economic development from the bottom up - not the trickle down thing. We've had plenty of time and plenty of instances to see what that actually does for the poor.

The guy from Bangladesh who won the Nobel prize for peace in 2006 had the right idea - micro-loans for the development of micro-businesses owned by the poor and developed by them with the help of whatever necessary support the government or private banks can provide in education and training while they do it. This produces jobs that are part of a locally owned business...in a community filled with family and neighbor owned businesses that can (and must) be sustainable ecologically.

Compare this type of development to one which produces a demeaned and displaced community - moved to outlying areas to make way for the wealthy for whom they become a paid servant class.

This is what comes with these mega-projects. There will be a small middle class offering of jobs... mostly filled with people imported from other areas as they must be educated and conditioned to do them. (Can you see Don Lencho, the mostly toothless fisherman who never goes anywhere without his machete and happens to be an incredible story teller living very happily on the edge of the lagoon with his animals whom it's said, he feeds before he eats himself - including bees, a large snake, 5 dogs, a mepache and maybe other animals, working in the megaproject?)

It doesn't get rid of poverty, it gets rid of the poor from the beautiful areas so the wealthy can live there without having to look at them - using some of them in the pool of paid servants (making them think that's just oh so close to the carrot of being a beautiful person themselves ...although there'll never be a cigar for almost all) and just pushing others into their own personal oblivion (without caring about that except to detest the ugly outcome (alcoholism, crime lifestyle, drug addiction etc... all the things that come along with a destroyed community/culture/family).

There are now actually very effective projects for a real economic development for the poor that are being done successfully. It's actually heartening and rejuvenating to know if it and to see it.

Even here in La Barra we have one called 'Compartamos' where now 25 women are learning to develop their own businesses, handling money (first loaned and saved and eventually earned in their own business) they learn to take care of and increase operating their own business that compliments in a sustainable way their community - thereby strengthening not only their own personal economic positions and that of their family but also strengthening their community.

These women meet once a week with a facilitator from the private bank operating the program. That person (believe me the bank gets their interest rate out of this) has helped them learn step by step from getting a certified copy of their birth certificate so they can get a voter's ID so they can open a bank account with $50 pesos so they can begin to deposit an amount each week equal to the payments on their loan starting at $500 pesos...and learn to save... growing, growing, growing, skills and self esteem. At a certain point as the loans and savings and knowledge increases they are encouraged to start a micro business.

As that business grows, they have a lot more than a job. They are a business owner with self esteem and skills. Their business can provide jobs for their children or neighbors children and they can make passing on those skills as part of what they offer their children... they can do it because they have developed the skills with help at first and with their own experience.

It's so obvious really... who hasn't heard the fable of "Give a man a fish and he'll eat once. Teach him to fish..." etc." The Mega-projects throw out fish to a few (not such great fish even).

La Barra's micro-loan project has had 100% success in the two and a half years it's been happening here growing the entire time. This is done on the model of the project the Bangladesh guy got the Nobel Prize for. It's working in a real way. It only needs more time and to expand to more people.

It's time these kinds of armaments in the real work against poverty are given their full support by those holding positions of governance. Isn't it finally time to stop the falsity of purporting that a mega-construction/hotel project is about economic development for the poor when we all know it's about generating profit and greater wealth for those who already hold economic power?

I live in a community here I have grown to love very much and I've watched families grow here - families I care about very much. This community and these families and these children imho will be displaced and probably fly apart under the arrival of the proposed mega-project. It's very real for me. It's difficult to not feel the emotions... deep concern is putting it lightly.

For some it's really about money without noticing or caring about the destruction it creates. For others they really just haven't been exposed to these perspectives.

I hope not to create antipathy in letting myself speak my mind on this. On the contrary. I want to call to the attention of people I know are good people but maybe haven't looked at this from another perspective. It's hard for me to not do it. Because I live here and I care about my neighbors and this community I feel moved to speak out about this. This is a culture that is rare in the world - 'Costeños de la Costa Grande' and is in danger of extinction to make way for these mega-projects. They will leave the poor more painfully poor. The benefit is for the wealthy.

So, all that to say... jobs, OK - but not to take the bait of just any jobs at any cost. Real jobs in local businesses that are generated by a real economic development from the bottom up - ecologically sustainable and again - owned by locals (the former poor of Guerrero) in their respective home communities - families and culture intact.

Wow! This may be the longest post in the world. Those brave souls who have read to the end… I’m impressed! Now… will I post, will I erase, will I post, will I erase... it's easier in a way to erase... simpler... no one will get mad at me... oh well...

May this thread and following ones on this topic continue to deepen perspectives on all sides in consideration of this. It’s really very important.

peace, Laura
Casa del Encanto B&B Barra de Potosí

Getting Their Money's Worth

Vacationers in Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa certainly got their money's worth today. It was a picture postcard perfect day with light tropical breezes, plenty of sunshine, and clear calm seas: just what the thousands of vacationing visitors from all over Mexico as well as from abroad wish for when they imagine themselves on vacation here.

The streets, hotels, beaches and restaurants of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo are full of tourists, mostly nationals with their families enjoying their summer vacation, escaping from the inland cities, their jobs, and the daily grind of fighting traffic gridlocks to get to and from work and school. The smiles on their faces really leave no doubt they are having a good time and are glad to be here surrounded by Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo's simple natural beauty, far from the crowded hustle and bustle of larger tourist destinations with whom Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa really do not seek to compete.

Small groups of wandering musicians serenade vacationers on the beaches of Zihuatanejo and their music carries on the warm breeze scented by blooming frangipani trees that cling to the coastline around the bay. Families spanning generations congregate at beachfront seafood restaurants and under beach palapas and umbrellas, many with coolers full of food and drinks, soaking in the sun and simply enjoying being together in a still unspoiled natural tropical paradise.

Let's hope Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo can continue being that simple and natural tropical vacation paradise, attracting visitors who come here for what Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is, and not what it isn't. Those who know and love the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo region, especially its residents, do not believe we should seek to compete with other overcrowded and overdeveloped tourist destinations. We believe that Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is a unique enough destination in its own right, thanks to the natural beauty with which it is endowed: a natural beauty worth preserving and protecting for future generations.

Summer Rain

Just a note to say that after suffering an unusually cruel and mostly rainless summer in Zihuatanejo so far this year, we finally woke up to a cooling rain this morning. The previous night was one the most uncomfortable, and showering didn't help cool us much because the water came out of the "cold" faucet hot. The rain has been intermittent so far today, but at least it washed some of the dust away as well as the foul-smelling grunge on the streets left by the garbage trucks. Of course, the rain has also been good for the downtown shopkeepers since when the tourists aren't on the beaches they're often walking around downtown, and this is the first week of summer vacation for Mexicans. So far so good.

Cayacal Schools Receive Donations

Many of our generous and caring visitors to Zihuatanejo bring school supplies and clothing for our less fortunate children, and for those that have dropped off their donations with my wife at Lupita's Boutique I thought you might enjoy seeing where some of those donations have gone.

About a quarter of the way between Zihuatanejo and Acapulco is a tiny forgotten village of fishermen and farmers called Cayacal. Cayacal is located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of Zihuatanejo along the Carretera Nacional 200 at the coordinates 17°23'20.50"N and 101° 9'41.61"W. Cayacal is home to a small primary school and a kindergarten with about 45 students.

Cayacal roadsign	fishing pangas
primary school	kindergarten

Last Monday, May 21st, we took school supplies and clothing donated by some very kind and thoughtful visitors to Zihuatanejo. We had saved up enough donations to assure that there were enough supplies and clothing for all the children at the kindergarten and the primary school so that no one would be left out.

kindergarten entrance	kindergarten class
kindergarten playground	students of mixed grades
students in line	passing out supplies
schoolgirls receive clothes	schoolboys receive clothes
boy with a new shirt	schoolgirls in tree

The children were all very grateful for the donations of school supplies and clothing, and they wanted to be sure that the kind people who made it all possible for them received this message from them:

¡GRACIAS!

Navy Attacked by Gunmen in Ixtapa

While watching the last minutes of LOST at my mother's home in normally peaceful Ixtapa last night, our attention was quickly drawn to what sounded like gunfire somewhere not too far off in the neighborhood below us. For about 15 or 20 minutes we listened to hundreds of rounds of gunfire from automatic weapons interspersed with what also sounded like handguns and a shotgun, and culminating in what sounded like a tiro de gracia at the end. Since we couldn't see where the firefight was taking place, we could only guess that it was coming from somewhere near the residential section of Golondrinas near the intersection with Pelícanos. So many rounds were fired that we feared a stray bullet, so we kept our heads down and tried to stay out of any possible line of fire. We were somewhat surprised not to hear any sirens for what seemed like a long time, but eventually we heard them and saw a couple of police cars drive past on the road below us. My wife and I had to call a taxi to get to our home in Zihuatanejo, and we were concerned they might not come due to the apparent danger. Fortunately APAAZ sent us a taxi, and it just happened to be one who had tried to drive by the scene of the crime to see if the white vehicle reported in CB radio broadcasts was a taxi, but he was waved off by police who had closed the road. He said he saw one body in the road, and during our ride back to Zihuatanejo we listened to quite a bit of radio chatter about the shootout. However, we were quite surprised and disappointed that no roadblock had been set up between Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa. With the morning news I found out that the firefight was apparently between narcos and members of the Armada de México when gunmen allegedly ambushed the Comandante del Apostadero Naval de Zihuatanejo as he was driving past the water treatment plant in Ixtapa on Paseo de los Viveros. According to newspaper reports, one marino was killed at the scene and two others injured as they attempted to repel the attack. The attackers allegedly carried off their dead and/or wounded, fleeing the scene in their vehicles. As far as I know they were not apprehended. Also this morning several helicopters of the Sector Naval have been busy circling over Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa since about 9 o'clock, giving the feeling of being in a war zone. With the ambush and murder of 5 members of the Ejército de México last week in Carácuaro, Michoacán and this latest ambush of members of the Armada de México in Ixtapa it appears clear that the narcos have declared war on Mexico's military, something that has never happened in Mexico's history. They have certainly stirred up a hornets' nest, since by directly attacking Mexico's armed forces they have assured that the military will mount a relentless campaign against them to hunt them down and kill or capture the aggressors. The local population has long been calling for the military to take over from the police, who are not trusted, prepared or trained to take on narcos or organized crime. Unfortunately, the governor has been trying to restrict the role of he military in Guerrero so as not to frighten tourists, several who have been injured in attacks over the past two years. Now even the PRI and the PRD at the national level are calling for Presidente Calderón to send the military back to their barracks, against all logic. This only raises suspicions as to the lawmakers' own involvement in narcotrafficking and organized crime, since it is widely known that most police forces at all levels are infiltrated and corrupted by narcos and criminals. If a war is to be waged against organized crime only the military is currently capable of waging it. Yet it begs the question: Even if the military wins, what will be left of Mexico after such a war? Currently in many communities across the country the narcos provide important income, community works and even social assistance where the government has long been failing. Farmers who would otherwise have to leave their lands to seek work either in the cities or across our northern border are currently able to survive and maintain their families only with the money their illegal crops bring. More and more it appears that the only way to put an end to the bloodshed, the corruption and the crime associated with the narco trade, and to save the billions in pesos spent by the government on an unwinnable war, is to legalize and regulate "recreational" drugs as well as to distinguish between truly hard drugs and those less harmful. The money saved as well as the money generated by such measures could be much better put to use educating our youth against drug use as well as rehabilitating drug addicts and making them productive members of our society instead of filling up jails with people who commit victimless crimes. Such a measure would also go a long way towards reducing corruption in the public sector and keeping citizens who are going to use drugs anyway safe from having to deal with underworld criminal elements.

Wake Up and Smell the Frangipani

Someone asked recently on my message board about extending the shoreline walkway that currently runs from the downtown beach to Playa La Madera. I'm sure they weren't expecting the reply I gave, but I thought it would be an important point to post here as well.

* * *

More and more each day Zihuatanejo is being made into a caricature of what it really is, all in the name of "tourism".

Part of what Zihuatanejo is all about is nature and exercise. One used to have to be in reasonably good health to visit here since getting around always involved a lot of walking up and down hills and along footpaths. Now that is no longer true, as is painfully obvious, and in the process we are literally paving paradise to put up parking lots... and roads and walkways to new and mostly luxury lodgings owned by foreigners. Has the standard of living benefitted? Well, I can now buy Dr. Pepper at the supermarket, but the supermarket is putting the hundreds of families who depend on the local produce and farmers' markets out of business. And added to that are the thousands of unskilled and uneducated people who move here looking for free land we don't want to give them and job opportunities that they aren't qualified to fill.

The walkway that sort of makes sense is the one to Playa La Madera called El Andador del Pescador, although it was unnecessary, and visitors and residents had no difficulty getting back and forth decades and even centuries before it was built. It is actually a longer walk than if one walks the "old" route from the museum to the footbridge across from La Mordida pizza and burger joint. And many of us used to always simply cross the lagoon mouth at the beach before it was turned into a polluted canal, and walk along either the dirt path or the top of the rocks on the other side, depending which part of La Madera we wished to reach. Everyone used to walk to the Chololo and the Kau-Kan when they were the first discoteques, both on the beach at La Madera. A few sad-looking mangroves on the other side of the canal from the museum are all that remain of the large and scenic estuary that was stupidly obliterated to build new neighborhoods and a shorter road to La Ropa.

When my wife's parents first visited La Ropa's beach they used to have to get there by canoe from their house on the beach next to the present-day basketball court on the Playa Principal. Eventually the Catalina Hotel built the road out to their location at La Ropa, and later it was extended around behind much of what is left(!) of the coconut grove at La Ropa to reach the Capricho del Rey at the far end of La Ropa Beach. Later that route was shortened by going straight through the coconut grove, which is now being cut down for new luxury homes... mostly owned by foreigners. As soon as that road was paved La Ropa saw endless vehicles speeding through the coconut grove bringing noise, dust and a lot of their garbage to what was once a serene and pristine masterpiece of nature and local social culture.

Along the cliffsides surrounding the bay we used to have thousands of fragrant frangipani trees. With the building of the walkway from downtown to La Madera most of those along that portion have disappeared, some from the construction, some from vandalism and careless people. Similarly, at Puerto Mio most of the frangipani is gone due to rapacious development for... you guessed it... more luxury homes that are now extending out past Playa Contramar to the northwestern coast of the bay.

In the above photo a frangipani clings to the cliff beside the ruins of what was the popular Chololo disco at La Madera Beach. The damaged walkway seen in the photo has been rebuilt "bigger and better".

At La Ropa Beach we already had one incident a couple of years ago where La Casa Que Canta blasted the rocks of the natural pool called El Pozo del Eslabón to try to keep locals from hanging out at the beginning part of the beach where it has been suggested the walkway should be extended to. Needless to say there was a large local outcry after a local child cut his feet on the sharp rocks Casa Que Canta left in the natural pool and cemented along the rocks there. I guess from a foreigner's point of view it might be desireable to build a walkway since it would inevitably lead to more luxury homes owned by foreigners, but from a Mexican's point of view it seems tragic to lose any more than what's already been lost. Part of the attraction of La Ropa is (or was) its relative isolation from the hustle and bustle of downtown, and Las Gatas is in an even more vulnerable position to lose its culture and identity if a walkway or road were ever built to reach there.

So please, enjoy the walk over hill and dale, be healthy, enjoy the scent of the frangipani when it blooms, and love Zihuatanejo for what it is. =)