Who Controls Paradise? The Battle over the future of the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve

May 20, 2007 | Tags: Environment, Chamela-Cuixmala | 1 Comment

The Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve. Map courtesy of The New York Times.

The Goldsmith/Marcaccini family’s La Loma estate. Photo by Adriana Zehbrauskas for the New York Times.

The New York Times in today’s edition has a feature article on the battle brewing over the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve. The reserve is 13,142 hectares (32,473 acres) of federally protected coastal land located about 3 hours south of Puerto Vallarta.

The battle not only pits environmentalists against developers but is also a fight between some of Mexico’s most powerful families. One the one side, the Goldsmith/Marcaccinis, whose 2,000 acres La Loma estate is within the boundaries of the reserve. Do they want to protect the environment of the area as claimed or do they simply want to maintain the exclusivity of their own super-luxurious estate.

On the other side are two resorts planned for the area. The developers are led by Roberto Hernández with partners Gian Franco Brignone and his son Giorgio, the Italian real-estate tycoons who have developed a series of super-luxury resorts in Jalisco state.

Tragically, the battle seems to be over which segment of the rich will be allowed to enjoy this land. Will it be the super-rich, super-exclusive resorts that cater to a more environmentally sensitive unspoiled vacation for the very few? Or will it be the simply very rich who can come to large resorts with golf courses and swimming pools; a development which will certainly be harsher on the environment.

The article is well worth a read both for it’s analysis of how the environment is playing as a political issue in the new Mexico as well as the more traditional issue of the power struggle between the wealthy families of Mexico.

Read the article: New York Times: Who Controls Paradise (free registration required).

Locate it on the map: Chamela.

May

6

Paletas from the Queen of Michoacan

May 6, 2007 | Tags: Photos, Ice cream | Leave a Comment

Paletas from the Queen of Michoacan
Originally uploaded by dry the rain.

This picture does capture the character of the paleta (ice-cream bar) salesman who are all over Mexico.

If you’ve every wondered what the connection betweeen that state of Michoacan and ice cream is, check out the excellent book True Tales from Another Mexico by Sam Quinones.

In 16 chapters Quinones tells us 16 stories of a Mexico we don’t see as a tourist including the lively story of how the small village of Tocumbo in Michoacan came to so dominate the ice cream business.

Here’s his chapter outline for the ice cream story:

The Popsicle Kings of Tocumbo: In 1946, Ignacio Alcazar, a homeless waif from the village of Tocumbo, Michoacan, established an ice cream shop in downtown Mexico City. That shop he started is the most successful small-business idea in Mexico in the last half century, known across the country as “La Michoacana.” More than 10,000 Michoacana outlets exist around Mexico, most of them owned by people from his village of Tocumbo. Mexico City has more than 1,000 Michoacana outlets. No town with more than 1,000 residents is without one. Only Pemex, the state oil monopoly, has penetrated the country so completely. Tocumbo is “the wealthiest pueblo in Mexico,” in the words of one historian. This is the story of how illiterate rancheros found a way to prosper without having to leave Mexico for the United States.

And the great picture is our photo of the week on Puerto Vallarta Satellite.

May

5

Free AIDS Clinic opened in Vallarta

May 5, 2007 | Tags: AIDS, Health | Leave a Comment

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS organization in the US which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, including twelve clinics throughout California; and Vallarta Contra el SIDA, a respected, local Mexican non-governmental organization (NGO), are joining forces with federal, state and local government bodies in Mexico to partner together in a new, free AIDS clinic in Puerto Vallarta - Mexico’s newest community-based comprehensive HIV/AIDS clinic - which will provide medical care and life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.