Ezzie Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 Attended a very interesting rally last night in the village square of Tlachichilco. Some of the women have raised a petition and have well over a hundred signatures to try and get the village mesa to take action on resolving the land disputes that have plagued the area for many years. Despite threats from some of the local community, these women (and a few of the men who support the cause) have decided to raise awareness of the situation. The main problem is with "regularization" of the ejido or indigenous property there. A number of American, Canadian and Mexican nationals built homes there over the past couple of decades on land they thought they legally owned. Now the deeds have been revoked by the municipality until the matter is resolved. No land taxes are being collected and no property can be sold. The jobs of many local maids and gardeners are at risk as well as opportunities to gain employment from construction and infrastructure improvement. A business park had been planned for the area to put in a Technology Park several years ago and the Municipality even constructed a lovely new road to support it. The local village "mesa" apparently made unreasonable demands of the potential employers (one of which was IBM) and nothing moved forward. Today the road that leads into the park is falling into ruin. The parents of the children in the area want a more prosperous future and employment opportunities for their kids. They feel that a resolution to the land dispute will allow further investment in the area, improvement of the local infrastructure and much needed employment. It seems that some people are welcoming of outside investors and others are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezzie Posted March 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Some new news on this subject. A small group of commenaros from the community met Thursday night and have joined in the initiative to bring a final resolution to this long ordeal. They are going to assemble and update the list of all know living commenaros and then petition for exclusion from the Agrarian Council. Once they have obtained a majority of commenaros in favor of exclusion a process can begin that will allow for the issuance of Federal deeds for each piece of property in the barrio. At that time the ejido will cease to exist and Tlachichilco can legally separate from San Juan and be a town under it's own administration. This group of commenaros has sent a clear message to the local "gringo" community that they value their relationship with them and want to work closely together to set aside the recent difficulties for the betterment of the community (jobs, infrastructure, education, etc ). It may take some time but at least things are moving in a positive direction and could lead to a new structure for the community. We should applaud the valiant efforts of the women of Tlachichilco who stood up and made their voices heard despite the vieled threats of others who are opposed to leaving the "status quo". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valbogyo Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Attended a very interesting rally last night in the village square of Tlachichilco. Some of the women have raised a petition and have well over a hundred signatures to try and get the village mesa to take action on resolving the land disputes that have plagued the area for many years. Despite threats from some of the local community, these women (and a few of the men who support the cause) have decided to raise awareness of the situation. The main problem is with "regularization" of the ejido or indigenous property there. A number of American, Canadian and Mexican nationals built homes there over the past couple of decades on land they thought they legally owned. Now the deeds have been revoked by the municipality until the matter is resolved. No land taxes are being collected and no property can be sold. The jobs of many local maids and gardeners are at risk as well as opportunities to gain employment from construction and infrastructure improvement. A business park had been planned for the area to put in a Technology Park several years ago and the Municipality even constructed a lovely new road to support it. The local village "mesa" apparently made unreasonable demands of the potential employers (one of which was IBM) and nothing moved forward. Today the road that leads into the park is falling into ruin. The parents of the children in the area want a more prosperous future and employment opportunities for their kids. They feel that a resolution to the land dispute will allow further investment in the area, improvement of the local infrastructure and much needed employment. It seems that some people are welcoming of outside investors and others are not. I did not even know where this was until you posted. I looked it up and now I am curious. I will have to take a drive out that direction and look around. It sounds like an interesting story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canamex Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 It's not just out there. We were going to buy in Lomas de Ajijic, up on the hill above the town, and then learned that the municipality has been paying hush money to the indigenous for ages because of the land it's on. It may be the case for many homes built along the mountainside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezzie Posted March 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 This area is the most easterly part of the north shore where there are homes that have been built by "extranjeros". Tlachichilco is currently a "barrio" of the larger town of San Juan Tecomatlan. San Juan Tecomatlan is the next village along the Chapala-Mezcala highway after you pass the Vista del Lago/Chapala Country Club & Golf Course. It is in the "Municipio" of Poncitlan that lies to the east side of the Municipality of Chapala. The municipal boundary between Chapala and Poncitlan is actually the eastern edge of the golf course. The village proper lies between the highway and the lake on the south side. Another landmark in the area you may be familiar with is the Focaccia Italiano Restaurant (we locals call it "Freddie's"). The area of this discussion is about 1 km. further east of Freddie's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Beautiful views of the lake Chapala from east of Tlachichilco. http://photoshare.shaw.ca/messages/viewimage/2750213604-1360599739-57654/gallery/25346336/page/1/15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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