We Lose a Round

1-'04

Despite a seeming mountain of evidence in our favor, regarding the historic and correct location of Rancho Carrizalito, Ernesto, him sitting at his dinner table with his two young daughters and his new senoria, dryly tells me that the Tribunal Agraria had ruled against us.

Our lawyers had told him that the Tribunal had done a lousy job in reaching a sort of split decision, giving part of the rancho to the ejido, but never specifying which part was which nor determining the fate of the "new" Carrizalito, which the ejido was claiming as ours.

Actually, we would have been surprised had we gotten a favorable ruling at this S. Baja level. A short explaining of the Tribunal Agraria is in order here so I'll do my best at rendering such.

The Tribunal Agraria for S. Baja is actually seated in Mazatlan, on the other side of the Sea of Cortez; S. Baja being too small and insignificant to rate its own. The Tribunal is supposedly composed of a number of impartial judges so at first glance it would appear that we stood a chance of not getting "homered" in these hollowed judicial chambers...but, as a matter of fact, the long political arm of the party that now controls this state, PRD-PT, a coalition, has that kind of reach.

Ernesto has flatly stated to me that "the governor has the control, the power." PRD is Chapultipac Cardenas's party. He is the mayor of Mexico City and the man who would have defeated Carlos Salinis for President of Mexico if vote counting computers would have been allowed to keep counting.

The PRD is a populist party. The PRD of S. Baja can't be seen as doing anything counter to "the people," especially concerning the poorer classes of country people, which ejdio members throughout this State would typically fall into. Ernesto had no doubt what-so-ever that the judge hearing our case shared PRD leanings. Our lawyers had told him that the opposition, lawyers from the Reforma Agraria, the organization which had been responsible for the drafting of the outrageously erroneous Plano Definitivo for Ejido San Jose De LaNoria, had cast us (me as a filthy rich gringo and Ernesto as a well to do Mexican) as greed-driven devils trying to steal from these poor ejdio people.

"Ha!" was my response to that. Most of those poor ejido people had alrea dy sold their ejido rights to much better healed Mexicans with dreams of cashing in "big time" dancing in their collective head. And, as ejido law had been laid out to me, these are people who can't even be ejido members; legally, anyway.

But, no matter, the show here still goes on.

"So now what?" Marcia and I ask our seeming worn-down dentist partner.

"Well," he comes back, "the case now gets sent to Mexico City to be reviewed by another unpartial Tribunal judge. We just have to wait and see what happens."

Dejectedly he continued on about how that judge there would probably not even review the file, just stamp its "case/closed."

"But we can appeal, right?" both Marcia and I ask.

"Yes! Yes. We can appeal it to the heavens," but he left us with little doubt as to t
ÿhe degree of hope he still held for our case.

This conversation took place approximately a year ago, now being early March of '04. During our time back in the States we'd communicated very little with Ernesto. All of us just busy, ya know. Since we received no urgent message regarding this Tribunal issue, no news being interpreted as good news, it nearly fell from mind.

First time we visit Cd. Constitucion this season, naturally we scheduled in time for a short chat with our dentist partner, us luckily ca $tching him between appointments. Among a swirl of other topics, the Tribunal thing is brought up.

Ernesto leaned back and laughed while lifting his palm up towards the heavens. "They lost the papers!" he intoned with degree of exasperation. Mazatlan had, supposedly, sent the paperwork to Mexico City but, supposedly, they'd never arrived. "Now the lawyers have to totally rebuild the file and then send it off again."

"And how long do you think that will take?" I questioned.

"Who knows? David. Who knows? It might take a month, it might take a year? We'll just have to wait and see."

Meanwhile, the lawyers still get paid, of course. And all those in the agencies involved still get their checks every 15 days. And maybe never definitely resolving the issue is a deft political manuever...who knows?

Email: david@dondavidonbaja.com