Complex legal battles stemming from a land dispute between the Indigenous Community of Mezcala de la Asuncion on the shores of Lake Chapala and a Guadalajara businessman are heating up again after years of foundering in the Mexican court system.
The conflict dates back to 1999 when the Comunidad Indigena filed suit with the district Agrarian Tribunal for restitution of ten hectares of communal land located in the mountain range overlooking Mezcala that was taken in possession by wealthy entrepreneur Guillermo Moreno Ibarra and his local cohort Crescenciano Santana. Last September, the tribunal issued a ruling in favor of the comuneros, but the case has dragged out under appeal. A final decision on the suit is expected in the near future.
Comuneros view Moreno as a money-hungry mogul who is eager to fill the countryside with residential complexes, oblivious to preserving Mezcala’s nearly virgin environment and spreading wealth to benefit the economic needs of the local people. They allege that he not only gained possession of the rural parcel referred to as El Pandillo by devious means, but also fenced off a portion of the property and hired armed men to guard it.
In addition, they charge that he has operated in collusion with Poncitlan government officials, who see Mezcala as a potential gold mine. And they are miffed at Moreno’s involvement in a series of huge off-road motorcycle and camp-out events that have devastated pristine hillside oak forests.
Mezcala’s people are renowned both for fierce defense of their lands and distrust of outsiders, attitudes rooted in the famed battles of Mezcala Island during Mexico’s War of Independence. In this day and age, most mezcalenses look at voracious developers and realtors as enemies. Determined to prevent the kind of unchecked urban sprawl that has gone on in the Chapala-Ajijic-Jocotepec corridor, they adamantly oppose construction of housing developments that will bring in hundreds of Guadalajara and foreign settlers and radically alter their way of life.
Moreno has fought back by filing apparent frivolous criminal cases against comuneros, the latest being a denouncement of first-degree theft lodged in 2011. After prolonged legal wrangling, the charges were reduced to the lesser offense of property damage, arrest warrants against ten parties were thrown out by the Jalisco Supreme Court, and the case was turned over to the Institute of Alternative Justice for conciliation. After the plaintiff and the defendants failed to reach a settlement last month, the case went back to the criminal court for reconsideration.
While legal counsel for the Comunidad Indigena remains confident of winning the agrarian suit, the feisty comuneros still worry that Moreno will stop at nothing to get them off his back.