2017 was an extraordinary year in many ways, with news dominated by the exploits of an incumbent in the White House the likes of whom Americans had never seen before.
Here is PART ONE of our review of some the Reporter’s leading stories last year.
JANUARY
Mexican citizens angered at hefty January 1 increases in the price of gasoline stage demonstrations throughout Mexico – including Guadalajara and Chapala. The protestors target much of their rage at the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and President Enrique Peña Nieto, who three years ago vowed that “gasolinazos” (sudden, steep gas hikes) would be a thing of the past after Congress rubber-stamped his polemic energy reform initiative.
Chapala police capture a prime suspect in a series of home burglaries cases that have plagued Ajijic over the past four years. The individual identified as a 55-year-old Mexican citizen was detained inside the La Floresta residence of an expatriate couple, where he was caught in possession of tools and a canister of mace.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, Mexico’s most notorious drug kingpin, is extradited from Mexico to the United States, where he will face charges of conspiracy, organized crime, weapons possession, murder and money laundering.
He will not face the death penalty thanks to an agreement between U.S. prosecutors and the Mexican federal government.
U.S. citizen Zia Zafar, 31, is returned to the United States after being expelled from Mexico following a shooting incident involving a U.S. consular officer at the Sania Mall on Avenida Vallarta in Guadalajara. Zafar is later arraigned in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia on a charge of attempted murder of an internationally protected person.
Vandals target San Antonio Tlayacapan’s shoreline malecón, sabotaging the park’s green areas and equipment, including the destruction of six information signs installed to mark the Alexander von Humboldt bird watch trail, as well as more than a dozen plants and tree saplings that were either broken off or completely torn out by the roots and strewn across the landscape.
What started out as vehement public repudiation of the policies and principles espoused by U.S. President Donald Trump ended as a sentimental love fest of unity among the throng of U.S., Canadian, Mexican and assorted foreign nationals joining in the Stand Together demonstration held Saturday, January 21 in Ajijic.
FEBRUARY
Demonstrations organized by Mexican NGOs and universities call for President Trump to show “respect” for Mexico and urge a vigorous and transparent response to his policies from this country’s leaders. In addition to Guadalajara, marches are held in Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla, Morelia, Villahermosa, Hermosillo, Colima, Leon, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Culiacan and Merida.
Amid growing fears that President Donald Trump’s persistent anti-Mexico rhetoric may spark a backlash against U.S. citizens residing south of the border, Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado has reassuring words for the local expat community. In an exclusive interview with the Reporter, he recalls that the people of Chapala have a long history of living in harmony with foreigners in their midst, stressing that he sees no prospects of a shift in the friendly symbiosis that has solidified over more than a century.
Excellent direction, choreography, acting, singing and dancing combine for a magical experience at Lakeside Little Theatre’s much anticipated “Chicago” – the classic American musical set in the Roaring Twenties when the Windy City was a hotbed of corruption, speakeasies and jazz babies. So eager were lakeside patrons to see this show that two performances are added to accommodate the demand for tickets. Never before has this happened in LLT’s history.
Around 250 firefighters and civil protection officers from several municipalities battle bravely for 20 hours to extinguish a gasoline pipeline fire on the western outskirts of Guadalajara. A senior Jalisco Civil Protection official confirmed that around 900,000 liters of magna gasoline have burned away following the explosion and subsequent fire in a segment of Pemex pipeline running alongside Highway 15, nine miles outside the city’s periferico.
MARCH
After an extended lull, another rash of canine deaths by poisoning raises concerns among Ajijic residents. Village veterinarian Memo Romero tells the Reporter that he treated three dogs brought to him Thursday, February 23 with advanced symptoms of poisoning. None survived. All of the animals had been taken out for walks around the upper Ajijic neighborhood of Las Salvias shortly before showing signs of intoxication.
Around 600 people in Guadalajara join in a worldwide “strike” to highlight gender inequality and violence toward women on International Women’s Day. In the Plaza de la Liberacion women held aloft dozens of placards with catchy slogans touching on multiple themes. Among them: “We don’t want flowers, we want rights.” “Neither victims or submissive. Combative women.” “Being a woman shouldn’t be a risk factor.” “Why are you afraid when we open our mouths but not when we open our legs.”
The largest aquarium in Latin America opens in Guadalajara, adding a major new attraction to the city’s tourist itinerary. Located in the Parque Alcalde, the Acuario Michin houses 150 marine species in 52 exhibits, including sharks, manta rays, clownfish, sea horses, jellyfish, octopuses, crocodiles and much more.
World Water Day commemorations see the inauguration of the Lake Chapala Escuadrón Anfibio, an elite police force assigned to enhance public security in lakeshore communities. The 18-man amphibious squad will use two fully equipped high-speed motor boats to patrol and carry out rescue missions in Lake Chapala’s waters.
A federal judge orders the Chapala government to stop construction of a high-rise apartment building going up adjacent to the Nimue nautical sports club in lower La Floresta. The court order stems from a lawsuit filed by the owners of five properties located in the immediate vicinity on Paseo La Huerta.
APRIL
Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval launches a scathing attack on U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to begin the process of dismantling environmental regulations implemented under the Obama administration to aggressively fight climate change. “Stupid” and “retrograde” are the words used by Sandoval to describe the move during an address to the 45th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that took place at Expo Guadalajara.
Members of the Chapala City Council unanimously approve passage of the municipality’s first regulatory code devoted entirely to the protection of animals. The new regulation addresses animal abuse and proper care, the use of leashes and collection of pet feces in public places, to the handling of strays, sterilization programs, pet adoptions and more. It spells out guidelines for the licensing and operation of veterinary clinics and pharmacies, pet shops and grooming salons, breeders and privately run shelters.
The Lake Chapala Shrine Club’s 11th Annual Ribfest is the most successful fundraiser in the club’s history, racking up 208,000 pesos for the Shrine Children’s Transportation and Treatment Fund.
The owner of Norte, a Ciudad Juarez daily, decides to shut down his publication, saying balanced journalism can no longer be guaranteed amid current security conditions. The decision comes less than two weeks after Miraslova Breach, a journalist who reported on government corruption and organized crime for Norte and La Jornada, is killed in her car in an early morning slaying. A note left by the assassin beside her dying body referred to her as “a loudmouth.”
Foreign citizens are running the risk of losing their legal status whenever they venture out for travel beyond the country’s borders. Officials from the Instituto Nacional de Migration (INM) issue a warning that minor clerical errors committed when going through immigration stations at border crossings and international airports can lead to expats getting automatically switched from Residente Temporal (RT) or Residente Permanente (RP) status to a visitor permit good for a maximum of 180 days.
Guadalajara marks the 25th anniversary of the April 22, 1992 pipeline explosions, which ripped through the Guadalajara sewage system, destroying 13 kilometers of streets in the city’s Reforma district. The tragedy killed 210 people, probably more, and marked a turning point for a city weaned on decades of political subservience, giving rise to a new dawn in open and investigative journalism.
Fed up with escalating crime and the lack of police protection, residents of an economically challenged Tonala neighborhood decide to take the law into their own hands. In an unprecedented move, residents place three prominent signs around their neighborhood warning transgressors that if caught they will not be reported to police but instead “lynched.”
MAY
The federal Chamber of Deputies (lower house) approves a bill to permit the medical and scientific use of marijuana. Moves to loosen federal laws governing the recreational use of marijuana stall, however.
The U.S. State Department confirms the acquisition of a plot of land in Guadalajara’s Colonia Monraz upon which a new U.S. Consulate General is expected to be built. According to reports, a majority of residents of two neighborhood associations agreed to allow the consulate to locate in their colonia, rather than live next door to high-rise apartment towers.
A huge swath of marshland bordering the San Antonio Tlayacapan waterfront goes up in flames, devastating the habitat of thousands of wild birds. The flames engulf the top growth in the hatch of tule rushes and aquatic plants spread over an area stretching about 300 meters parallel to the eastern leg of the park and 90 meters out into the lakebed.
This country’s government contests a report that ranks Mexico as the second-most deadly conflict zone in the world after Syria. The report, carried out by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, uses figures from this country’s war against the drug cartels – an estimated 23,000 fatalities in 2016 – to place Mexico higher than both Iraq and Afghanistan.
JUNE
Chapala lays claim to being Mexico’s “Number One Smart City.” The designation stems from the unveiling of the municipal government’s revamped website. The extensive upgrade, valued at $US1.4 million, was carried out by the company E-City Software with technical support and licensing provided by Microsoft, at no cost to the local government.
Guadalajara parties without reservation after its fabled soccer team, the Chivas, win a record 12th national championship. The victory unleashes a celebration of massive proportions, with an estimated 100,000 people descending on the Minerva Glorieta to welcome the team around midnight.
Over 4,000 revelers spangled in all the colors of the rainbow take to the streets as part of Guadalajara’s annual Pride Parade. For the first time in the parade’s history, the marchers witness a Jalisco governor participating in the proceedings, “We need to demonstrate that we respect and protect the right to choose, in all senses,” declares Governor Aristoteles Sandoval.
The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) scores a victory over the left-wing Morena party in the gubernatorial election in Estado de Mexico but the closeness of the result means they can take nothing for granted when the nation votes to elect a new president in June 2018. It is being viewed as a Pyrrhic victory for Morena and its standard bearer Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
After a two-month suspension, Guadalajara’s revamped fotomulta (speed camera fine) system resumes operations. In each of the locations, motorists are now given warnings that they are approaching a speed camera. Notification is provided through painted signs saying “Foto” on the road surface, as well as highly visible signs erected by the side of the thoroughfare.