Saturday, November 5, 2011

A visit to Tenacatita Beach, with armed guards watching us

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - A quick visit to Tenacatita Beach, our first since the land was illegally seized by Jose Villalobos more than a year ago, can best be described as surreal.

First, we had to pass through a caged area, in which they searched our truck and asked lots of questions about why we were coming in. Then as we drove in, a guard with a rifle watched us from a balcony of the house built by a woman named Irene. Adm. Fox had her IPad taking pictures but put it down - we had strict orders, only photos of the beach.

At the beach, it was worse. A snarly guard told us exactly where to park and then made it clear that photos were to be of the water, not even the beach in either direction,

And how did I determine the guard with the automatic weapon was snarly? Instead of the polite 'senor' he hollered at me repeatedly using 'usted'. Senor of course means Mister, usted translates as You.

These guys would be very at home in the Oakland, California police department.

In La Manzanilla, the people - including one person whose restaurant was seized - seem convinced that the beach will reopen, sans guards, in December.

Vamos a ver, amigos.

When we return in January, we will make a more concerted assault to get photos, perhaps even hire a boat to shoot video and photos from the bay - if the guards are still strutting about like stormtroopers.



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