Parcels
PARCELS....
Those Ejido San Jose De La Noria parcels. Francisco's
bright idea. (The past ejido commissioner.) The crooked job he and his
phony Ingeniero buddy worked up, tried ta pull.
The focus of this action is in the municiple district of Loreto, S. Baja,
Mexico. This right along a magnificent stretch of Sea of Cortez coastline
that, for a long time, I've been involved in fightin' ta save.
Somewhere I've already written about how flawed these ejido parcels truly
are.... But, though I hate to go back over covered ground, I guess I'll
have ta reiterate:
The ejido was never in position, nor had the authority, to parcelize anything.
Never, during the process of markin' these parcels out, did any official
arm of the Mexican government have a hand in this...even though the information
stamped on metal plates atop cement markers is designed as if they had.
Not a big hurtle ta clear fer such an ambitious, unscrupulous pair. Counterfeit.
And they had lots of others, helpin' 'em.
LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER
On paper, what they did, doesn't look that bad. One
hundred meters wide, about a mile and a half long: Ninety some odd of
'em. They're shown abutting the coastline, the beach. Ta perspective investors
they're made ta look tempting, deliciously so. Each ejido member with
this piece of paper that's in every way made ta look legit, officious.
Ah a dreamt about parcel on the Sea of Cortez....
But as soon-as one exposes this work ta reality of situation, the topography
and the already existin' claims on areas parcelized, the facade of these
fictitious documents crumbles ta dust...to but ephemeral hazy on horizon.
Naturally these are all numbered; increasin' in a south ta north fashion....
Besides being illegitimate in the first place, many of these have multiplicity
of other problems:
HEADS UNDER WATER
Numbers one through 13 have their coast-abutting heads
measured out in a living lagoon, an estuary that floods at high tide,
recedes at low. All such places are federal tidal zone. Impossible to
build in, and to own. And then another strike against these 13 is that
their tails, immediately past lagoon's waters...lay on hotly disputed
terrain that goes by name of Rancho Palo Blanco, the large family of Quijanos
possessing deed that goes way back before the formation of this ejido...but
to which the ejido's laid claim. This fight has stretched on for at least
30 years now, those Quijanos maintaining possession.
Numbers 15 through 20 don't have the coastline problem but...their tails,
too, stretch back into this hot dispute.
Numbers 21 and 22 lay in arroyo San Cosme. You can't legally construct
anything in an arroyo bottom in Mexico, for obvious, good reason (although
this hasn't stopped Martin). A guy named Surgio, the owner of a hotel
in Constitucion, who'd bought an ejido member's rights so he could get
in on Francisco's great parcel drawing, drew No. 21. Francisco'd convinced
him he was going to be a winner, make a killin'. Martin', because he already
lived-on the site, was given #22, this affectively buyin' him over ta
Francisco's side of this blatant scam.
RIGHTS OF POSSESSION IN WAY
Numbers 22, 23 and 24 all have problems of crossing the homestead of Alejo Romero Alverez, a man with rights of possession, a rancho, a business. He's not plannin' on movin'. An incredible fight, that's what tryin' ta push him out would lead to.
GET A LADDER
Numbers 25 through 30 are situated on rock mountain
face that drops to boulder strewn shoreline. You'd have ta have rope ladder
ta get ta the sea. As their numbers increase...the longer this would have
ta be....
There's a big stretch of coastline skipped then, the area around hot pool
beach not having been carved up yet. The plan was to save this choice
spot for later. A big sale, perhaps to someone wanting to construct some
grandiose edifice, like maybe a hotel. Even though there is no fresh water
to suppoft such a venture, that is the ejido thinkin'.
DIVIDING OTHERS PROPERTY
The next 28 parcels have a whopper of a problem then,
this because of their placement within Rancho Carrizalito. This has been
a documented rancho since 1928. Its very good papers go that far back.
Historically its been inhabited by Mexicans for much longer than that,
and by Indians long before them. There's sweet water. A full-time spring:
Ojo De Agua De Carrizalito. The only thing that made habitation possible
in vast surrounding area.
Ask any of the elders along a considerable stretch of coastline - say
from Loreto to Timbabichi - where Carrizalito lays, and they'd pin-point
it right where these errant parcels lay. A considerable portion of the
populations of Ensenada Blanca and Agua Verde were born there, and a bigger
portion yet had lived at least part of their lives at Carrizaltio. The
population of which sometimes reached five and six families.
Irrespective of such history, such evidence, the Reforma Agraria, through
its ÒPlano Definativo for Ejido San Jose De La Noria,'' placed
this rancho's location...far north of where the truth lies. (And of course
with this same defective plano they created and moved numerous other properties,
also.)
And even though this problem had been legally rectified, even though the
ejido had voted numerous time in favor of El Carrizalito's correct location,
even though the ejido chief, Francisco Savin himself, signed off in acceptance
of correct location, still there was this attempted theft....
Twenty-eight parcels hopelessly tied up in this fight.
NOT ENOUGH COASTLINE
Then the ejido's plan skips a long stretch of uninhabitable
coastline, what they claim El Carrizalito ta be, and continues parcelizing
more then past that...far enough north so that every ejido member could
have one parcel, plus two extra for the phony Ingeniero. The only problem
with this continued march north is that, before all numbers were exhausted,
the terrain of Ejido San Jose De La Noria was. With 17 parcels yet to
go they'd reached their northern boundary with Ejido Santo Domingo. No
matter. Boldly they surveyed on in markin' out these last seventeen.
A recapitulation is called fer here: Beside the fact that the ejido was
never in position to parcelize anything in the first place, I count 58
parcels as further fatally flawed, six more with other major problems,
this out of a total of 92 . And almost all without these additional problems
are land locked, the only access by sea.
The (once) Delagado of the Procurador Agraria, to his credit, once he
became aware of Francisco's mess, issued an act that demanded a complete
cessation of this parcelization activity. However, this was ignored completely
by Francisco and his followers.
HUNGER AND GULLIBILITY
An incredible hunger exists for parcels along the Sea of Cortez. This combined with an incredible gullibility of those caught unsuspecting. Unscrupulous ejido members, Francisco leading the charge, had little trouble peddling these worthless, pretend deeds. In a wild frenzy parcels were traded for cheap pickups and carros, most of these deals orchestrated by the most greedy (Francisco and his close circle) against the hungriest, most needy. And then these cheaply-traded-for parcels were sold to the general Mexican public (as well as to a number of foolish gringos).
THE KNOT OF COMPLICATIONS GROWS
Alas, another twist yet has been mixed into this comic
tragedy: Lawyers from the Procurador Agraria, at a fairly recent ejdio
meeting, discovered that approximately 50% of all those claiming ejido
membership...did not possess their ejido titles. Either these had never
been recorded, or (Ha!) through sloppy record keeping, had been misplaced...lost
fer ever. And those without ejido titles couldn't own parcels, even if
they were legitimate in the first place.
And then, to top this off, the lawyers told those who'd bought into the
ejido, that they could not become ejido members just by buying other's
rights, even though the ejido'd voted them in. There had been approximately
12 ejido members who'd sold their rights prior to this grand parcelization.
People who were pushed by desperation to grab for the between two and
three thousand U.S. bein' offered. Others like Sr. Eriberto Chavez and
Saul Trojillo who, on the advice of Francisco, were grabbin' 'em up. They
can't be ejido members so they can't hold or sell parcels either. But,
they're not going to take the word of government lawyers...and so the
show goes on. Parcel mania!
And now, at this writing, Feb. 9th, '01, there is an extended effort afoot,
by someone with a lot of money to throw around, to buy up yet more ejido
rights! That's right, $100,000. pesos each is what the goin' rate has
risen to, only those with good ejido title need apply. A week ago, four
ejido members who's parcelization dreams had fizzled, sold out! And more
are sure to do so up in San Jose De La Noria, where needs are even more
critical.
Which leaves one wondering who's trying to gain control of this ejido
with its vast holdings?
Who, at any level of government, is goinq to step in and stop this mess?
How many loosers does there have to be before the subject is finally correctly
addressed?
COM'ON LORETO!
Loreto, the city of Loreto that's striving to be,
can only get hurt if these parcels stand, if such games are allowed to
be played out on what should be highly protected Sea of Cortez coastline.
Loreto with its Marine Reserve. Loreto with its budding eco-tourist industry
that needs undeveloped coastline to continue to exist. Who's going to
pay the price asked for a kayak trip down a shoreline, something yet unspoiled,
that will soon turn into rural slum?
Like the unstoppable Martin Rodrigus, the proud owner of the fictitious
parcel #22, that's actually in arroyo San Cosme, other parcel owners would
soon be sub-parcelizing their long, 100 meter wide holdings. Lots! Two,
four, six...how many pieces can these parcels be divided up into?
Martin, irrespective of that "act" of the Delagado of the ProcuradorAgraria,
has already leveled most of the coastal bushes, trees and cactus that
held light soil and acted as wind break: This, against the law, besides,
and this, in an arroyo bottom! Where just a year ago there was sea-side
eco system, fenced in cabanas now stand on naked soil. And he's making
plans for more! No bathroom facilities, no place to hide to accomplish
necessary bodily functions...no place for the increase in garbage!
Picture what a mess this still clean and relatively well preserved stretch
of coastline would turn to if those with mentality like Martin get their
way - aren't stopped!
Com'on, Loreto...there's somethin' big at stake here. Isn't this something
that's runnin' decidedly against the established local grain?
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| Email: david@dondavidonbaja.com | |