Cesar Gonzalez Marquez, the younger brother of Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez Marquez, died on Sunday as the result of a fall at a hotel in Tenacatita.
On vacation at the Punta Serena complex, Gonzalez, 47, was apparently ascending to a tourist area in the early hours of Sunday morning, when he slipped and fell 30 meters into a ravine. Red Cross paramedics transported Gonzalez to nearby Cihuatlan. He was then airlifted by helicopter to Guadalajara’s San Javier hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around midday.
Jalisco Attorney General Tomas Coronado Olmos maintained the cause of death was accidental and suggested Gonzalez had slipped due to wet conditions. Medical forensics experts later confirmed he had suffered fatal third-degree bruises to the skull and abdomen.
“My heartfelt thanks for the many messages of solidairty and support,” wrote Emilio Gonzalez on Twitter on Sunday afternoon. Family and friends attended a funeral held in Guadalajara on Monday morning.Cesar Gonzalez’s choice to spend his vacation in the coastal resort of Tenacatita may have raised eyebrows among local residents. Tenacatita was controversially privatized in 2010 after Guadalajara businessman Jorge Villalobos bought a 42-hectare plot to be transformed into a luxury tourist complex.
Armed state police officers evicted some 50 local families who were living on the land and subsequently restricted access to the beach – which, under federal law, should be kept open to the public. While Emilio Gonzalez sought to distance himself from the dispute, he did little to support the evictees, who claimed they still had valid legal rights to the property.