Day of the Demandas

So it's Marcia, Ken, Chayo and me, us making our way into City of Loreto. We've called in advance. Sr. Yee and Payo...after we'd breakfasted at the Café Ole, we find them both waiting outside Yee's office. Ken has talking to do with Payo. The Quijanos are tapped out with regards to their long fight against the ejido. Ken, who'd I pumped as this big time money-gathering campaign organizer (he really has such capacities but he seriously underestimates his abilities, or maybe its just his innate modesty at work), had been thinking of taking up that family's cause; that fight for Rancho Palo Blanco.

Marcia wanted to get her town chores done so she parts from us there. Chayo, Ken, Payo, Yee and me, we crowd into Yee's inner office. Cross conversations break out almost immediately, making it hard for good concentration. Ken and Payo get shooed out to outer office, which, as yet, has never been manned with receptionist/secretary. Soon as the door closes behind them we get down to serious business.

Chayo and me, we lay out the string of complaints against Gutierrez, Yee making brief notes on standard legal pad. Chayo's got witnesses of past verbal assaults, Justo, Alejo's middle son and Cedillo, Justo's cousin. They had both been working with Chayo on a dam he was building at the spring in the arroyo back of his strawbale casa here on El Carrizalito. Marcia and Ken were listed as witnesses to his gate crossing. Ken's camp had had the presence of mind to jot down entering pickup's plate number. This complaint would be filed in the name of Ernesto, the named owner of the rancho. Yee's already got his power of attorney.

This done we switch to demanda against Trojillo. Where's that Enginero? I question Yee. He was supposta be there with Chayo's completed Plano. Yee jumps on the phone, assures us that he'll be there quick. This is Chayo's demanda against Saul, not mine. It would be a much weaker thing coming from a gringo against a Mexican. Plus, it's Chayo's parcel that's suffered Trojillo's affronts. We hit him with absolutely everything we can think of. And when the enginero gets there, which was real fast 'cause he had yet half his money coming, he thinks of a few more areas Saul has opened himself to attack.

We decide jointly that this demanda won't be filed at the Loreto level. LaPaz, the enginero insisted would be more likely to take action on all the tide zone and environmental degradation issues. We'd already discovered that using such agencies as PROFEPA and SEMERNAP at that municipal level simply didn't work. All of us agreed that just a little bit of money changing hands with those working there kept them off even a gross offender's back. Saul hands hadn't been as much as slapped for all the eco destruction he'd committed the past season.

I brought up the idea of another attempted meeting with the Presidente De Municipal, asked this enginero if he'd attend, tell what he'd witnessed. He quickly agreed and Yee said he'd work at setting such a thing up.

Our inner office things breaks up and as we're exiting Payo and Ken have just about exhausted what they'd been audibly hashing over. Just about then Marcia pulls up, her town stuff mostly accomplished.

Ken and Chayo want to get dropped off in the center of town. Marcia and me have got a few more business-related things to click off. Diana, of Roberto's office, with her we needed to check in. when we do, us all loaded up on projects for her to take off on, before we get far into things she stops me, telling us she's closing the office, and moving to Los Cabos.

Ugh.

Double ugh.

First we lose Roberto...and now we lose his office, it with computer loaded up with all kinds of important information. What the hell was I going to do for a translator?

Email: david@dondavidonbaja.com