Planning underway for Tenacatita 'day of camping' Monday, Dec. 27

REBALSITO, Jalisco, Mexico - The organizers of the 'day of camping' on the Tenacatita Beach are getting together this week to work on the details of how the event will unfold Monday, Dec. 27.

The preliminary plans are for people to gather in Rebalsito and make their way to the beach via a back entrance, which will require crossing some waterways.

Once on the easterly section of the beach - which is not in dispute - the plan is to have people walk west along the shore until they reach the area of Tenacatita Beach formerly occupied by restaurants, hotels, and various businesses.

Should the road suddenly be opened by Dec. 27, the group will march down the state highway to the beach.

Here is a link to Cyberpueblo, which has been following this issue: Cyberpueblo Invitation to Day of Camping

Guadalajara Developer Jose Villalobos

The event is in part to draw attention to the ongoing occupation - and destruction - of Tenacatita Beach by armed forces under the direction of Jose Villalobos.

Villalobos seized the bayside of Tenacatita Beach and much of the oceanfront area the morning August 4. Police and security forces brutally evicted the residents - Mexicans and non-Mexicans.  As many as 800 persons were forced out a gunpoint.

Villalobos claims he holds a valid court order giving him title to the land and is planning to build a luxury hotel and resort - complete with a golf course, according to published reports.

Police blocking the state highway in August

The evictees, however, are fighting the eviction in court and have staged numerous protests, including marches in Guadalajara. So far, the governor of the state of Jalisco has refused to intervene and is the subject of heavy criticism from members of the government. Guadalajara Reporter story on the governor.

Several times since August 4, groups of people have tried to gain access to the beach only to be rebuffed - sometimes violently. LINK: News media, crowd sprayed with chemicals

Persons walking along the ocean beach are stopped by armed guards too. The guards are using the second story of a home formerly occupied by a non-Mexican citizen, as a lookout tower.