Friday, March 16, 2012

Court cases moving ahead, after a long delay

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - The lawsuits filed against Guadalajara developer Jose Villalobos and his corporation (Rodenas) are finally being heard in Guadalajara courts.

Several of the American plaintiffs who are seeking amparos against Villalobos report that their witnesses - who are testifying about ownership of the properties in question - are being allowed to give their testimony to the courts.

The witnesses have been on standby for more than a year in some cases, as each case hearing has been repeatedly postponed. In many cases, the postponements were tied to a lack of documents required by the court.

The sudden flood of testimony comes in the wake of a judgment against Villalobos, telling him to return the land to its rightful owners and restore the properties. He has appealed and continues to hold the land he took by force along Tenacatita Bay and the nearby ocean beach.

He evicted hundreds of Mexican citizens and non-Mexicans from their homes early one morning at gunpoint.

The persons forced off their land said that the people who chased them off then looted their properties and stole most of their possessions.

Since that August 2010 incident, Villalobos destroyed buildings, erected fences and has the land patrolled around the clock. Anyone attempting to drive to the beach is required to go through a checkpoint where very unfriendly armed guards search cars, demand identification and tell people that they can go to the beach, but not take any photos of the land.

Persons who attempt to walk down the ocean beach are rebuffed by guards pointing automatic weapons at them - despite Mexican law which says beachfronts are public property.

Below is a photo of the formerly public Tenacatita Bay Beach, taken from the deck of sailboat in a race last month.



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