AJIJIC PLAZA, TONIGHT, 6:30

Protesting the sale and development of Tepelo!

What is Tepelo and why should we care? Just curious.

The waterfall up above Min Wa restaurant. There are plans to build condos alongside and above the falls. Some say it's a done deal others say not yet. We need a big presence. Please come so we can hear what they say and make our voices heard.

Probably a gift from the outgoing Chapala muni, a gift that will keep on giving.

Thanks for the details. In Canada the aboriginals can basically do whatever they want on their land. I assume this is ejido land?

I thought so too, but you know how it is . . . It's all over social media, here is just one request I got today from Lake Abastos:

"Dear friends: today at 6:30 pm at the plaza in ajijic we will gather and have a very important talk about protecting the area know as “EL TEPALO” famous hike with waterfalls on the ajijic mountains. It’s a beautiful place that should be protected and preserve, its our duty as a community to protect and don’t aloud any future construction on this area.
Lake abastos will be present, if any one needs help or translation we will be more than happy to help. Looking forward to see you there.
Have a great day!!!"

Thanks. First I've heard of this.

Here's the deal: An un-named, unidentified, investment group wants to buy and develop condos alongside and above Tepalo falls and recreation area. People were emotional at the meeting tonight and I agree, we need to fight this. The land is not ejido it is indigenous land. Which means the indigenous community can sell it if they want to. That's the bad news.

There is zero transparency around this deal.

Wear a little green ribbon to support Tepalo and I'll post the next report.

I live below Tépalo in Ajijic. I did not take the photo below, but I've been up there. It's a very popular trail above central Ajijic, and yes, the waterfalls look like this during a good rainy season. It's beautiful.

This is also the first I've heard of this, but anything is possible with real estate right now.

How many people were in the plaza tonight? Who was organizing it??

I'm bad at estimating crowds but I'd guess 100 +/-. Lots of press and cameras, there will be coverage. Dale was there so watch the GR.

Don't know for sure who organized it, maybe Chuni. I heard him speak, members of the indigenous groups, Xill, Dale, sat with Azu and her 2 activist woman friends spoke, as well as members of the community. Everyone was emotional and brought up good points - such as the gob can't even keep up with the water, basura, and pothole demands now and nobody supported more development of any kind.

We have to stop this or all these beautiful mountains will be covered in houses and friggin' fraccs!

I heard part of the audio saying that families were granted the lands in the 1700s... but I have a seen a lawsuit where the same claim they got it to farm through a presidential decree in the early 1980s.

More information on the front page of the GR that came out yesterday by Dale. Additionally, the activist organization that has formed is called Vigilantes de la Riberas and have a Facebook page to join for ongoing info.

Presently they have requested a full disclosure of this project and information regarding the status of the land and whether or not it has already been sold. We await the response.

I wouldn't hold my breath for disclosure as the last administration had the worst transparency record. This is an issue that present and future administrations can help and stop, if they say they cant because it was approved by a prior administration then they are ignorant or lying. There are many studies, surveys and reports that are needed to approve such a project and if one isnt there then they cannot approve the project and even if it was they could file an administrative suit and annul the permission after the fact.

Just beware of agent provacateurs who have worked in government who only want to tattle and misadvise as they earned $$$ and also dont want their cronies to face fallout. Here the buck doesnt stop at all.

Good points, Spencer. "Here the buck doesn't stop at all." Is a perfect description.

What would be the first few steps to start the ball rolling in a project like this? Would the actual purchase of the land be the first step, or would the developers secure government permits to develop the land before buying?

I can't even imagine what an environmental impact study would look like.

Usually you would start with a purchase or lease agreement subject to government approvals, permits, etc., etc.

First as the land is ejido the ejido would need to vote to make the property private. If this happens let them know people will shame those who voted for it. Ejido land is for farming to help the poor, not make them rich by privatizing and selling to developers.

There then would need to be a building permit issued (these permits are good for ONLY ONE YEAR) which needs to be renewed annually so this could span many administrations which if something was wrong they could deny the renewal or revoke the license with an administrative lawsuit called Juicio de Lesividad.

Prior to the building permit there would have to be environmental impact reports, reports for water and sewer and transito.

One common trick is to have a confederate / traitor inside the municipality who will stamp a request received and then if there is no response within 30 days they say that due to the law, there is an automatic approval if request not denied within 30 days.

Much of this can be verified with transparency which has been horribly lacking. The prior administration egregiously violated the law, very little published and people dont know if it was to hide criminal actions or just plain laziness or ignorance.

Spencer, they kept saying the land is indigenous and not ejido. What is the legal difference between the two?

Thanks for spelling it all out.

Very similar, both under Ley Agraria indigenous communities are under articles 99 to 107 although article 107 says all the ejido laws apply to them which dont go against the aforementioned articles. Same Federal Agrarian Law

What about the ability to sell the land? They said ejido cannot be sold but indigenous can. They said this land is indigenous. True?

The ejido can lease their land for whatever access or use they choose. Most of La Manzanilla is on ejido land. They choose to lease it out to developers. Mining companies do access and extraction deals with them all over Mexico. My thinking is if people don't want the land to be used for development then they need to either petition the government to buy it back or buy it themselves.

There is a process to privatize the lands.