Tenacatita Beach and the loss of a Mexican community

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - The very dateline on this story raises a question. Is there even a village called Tenacatita anymore?

The nearby village of Rebalsito survived the armed onslaught that swallowed Tenacatita Beach nearly three years ago. But what of the actual community, named for the bay and residing on the tiny slip of land now occupied by armed invaders hired by the Rodenas Corporation?

Welcome to the Tenacatita Beach "access"

Rereading posts of the Tenacatita Bay Bugle in the months leading up to the seizure by the forces paid by Jose Villalobos of Guadalajara, you can see there is optimism for a Tenacatita that would have most likely continued on its prosperous course.

The restaurants and commercial activity had never been as evident or growing as fast. There was lots of new paint, new buildings, small markets, new plantings of trees and lots and lots of tourists.

And then poof, thanks to greed, power and a lot of guns, Tenacatita (the village, the community) disappeared almost overnight.

There is continued talk that the Mexican judicial system will eventually oust Villalobos and the aggressive armed guards who keep Mexicans and gringos alike from having anything remotely resembling normal free access to the public beach and land that once held a community.

Perhaps.

But in the meantime, the question remains: Is there still a Tenacatita community or did Villalobos manage to destroy it along with all the businesses and homes his bulldozers turned to rubble?

Happy times, before Tenacatita Beach was seized by a Guadalajara developer

Courts make rulings, but the gates at Tenacatita stay up

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - Although Mexican courts have been ruling against Jose Villalobos and his forced takeover of Tenacatita, the gates, the guards, the fences and the attack dogs remain.

In that takeover August 4, 2010, nearly 800 Mexican citizens were roused from homes by 200 police and forced to leave at gunpoint. Their possessions were seized, stores looted. A few household items were returned later.

A number of unarmed people were hurt in the assault.

Most recently, people are the area were heartened by Villalobos' loss of the federal concession to the beach. There was a great deal of speculation that he would have to open the beach by Semana Santa, then the speculation said maybe April 30.

But since then, everything remains status quo. Anyone trying to get to the beach still has to pass through an ugly chain link checkpoint, where unpleasant guards carrying automatic weapons demand to search cars, require that identification be left at the guard shack and generally act as though anyone headed to the beach is a suspect.

Here is a brief report posted on the People's Guide to Mexico:
People's Guide to Mexico

In the meantime, some individual lawsuits, brought by American and Canadian landowners (whose oceanfront properties were seized by hundreds of armed guards in the employ of Villalobos) have had hearings in Guadalajara courts.

Rulings on their requests for amparos (injunctions) are pending.

Here is a photo of what Tenacatita Bay Beach looked like before Villalobos seized it and bulldozed the many restaurants and concessionaire facilities there.

Happier days, before the illegal seizure by Jose Villalobos

Rumors were too optimistic, but Tenacatita Beach still may open

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - The reported rumors that Jose Villalobos was about to withdraw from the  lands he seized along Tenacatita Bay and the ocean might have been just that, rumors.

But in a story in today's La Jornada, it appears there might be a chance that Villalobos is willing to sign an agreement that will result in the highway being opened.

Here is a link to the google translation of the story: La Jornada writes about Tenacatita takeover

A force of armed men took over the area August 4, routing nearly 800 residents from their homes and businesses, claiming that Villalobos had won a court case giving him sole ownership of 42 hectares through his corporation.

Since that time, numerous lawsuits have been filed and demonstrations by local residents have been held at the gates blocking the state-financed highway into the beach area. Demonstrators and members of the press were repelled this fall by security guards and/or police - by being sprayed with chemicals.

Here is a video of that incident: