Cover of the Amnesty International Report 2020/21
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Amnesty International released its annual Report on The State of Human Rights this week and singled out Mexico for its high level of abuses of women and journalists.
One of its conclusions is that, regionally, COVID-19 confinement measures have led to a serious increase in violence against women, including domestic violence, rape, homicide and femicide and even in one Mexican case, a husband killing and skinning his 21-year old wife.
México was found to be one of the worst countries for feminicide, with 3,752 killings of women reported in 2020. Mexico’s law enforcement record was equally bad with only 969 of the killings investigated as femicides and police involved in several murders of women. México State registered the highest absolute number of femicides, followed by Veracruz. Colima and Morelos. Based on all available reports of violence against women, AI found that in 2020 Mexico exceeded the 197,693 violence cases reported in 2019.
AI noted that the President has downplayed the problem of violence against women and has stigmatized human rights defenders and media covering them. It also reported that Jalisco police were involved in the arbitrary detainment of 27 people in Guadalajara during a demonstration sparked by the death of Giovanni López Ramírez. Protesters were abducted in unmarked vehicles. The Jalisco State Governor later announced that the police involved would be subject to criminal investigations, AI noted.
Journalists are equally in danger in México, with at least 19 journalists killed in 2020. A letter signed by 650 journalists and intellectuals accused the President of actions harmful to the right to freedom of expression because of the violence against journalists and the administration’s antipathy toward the media. AI also reported on evidence that the México state news agency was involved in a social media smear campaign, allegedly financed with public funds, against several journalists.
AI also detailed the danger facing human rights advocates in México and other Latin American countries, especially those protecting the environment and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. AI reported that 24 human rights defenders were killed in México last year, almost all by private parties. Human rights defenders who criticized the Maya Train for its abuse of the rights of indigenous peoples along the right of way were attacked by the President, despite strong support from the UN. Other actions were mixed, with the government ratifying the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists but dissolving the trust fund for defenders of human rights.
The full report, Amnesty International Report 2020/21 covers 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. is available for free download as a PDF on the AI website, www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/mexico/report-mexico/
The Los Amigos Big Band entertains a a sold out crowd at Quatro Sentido.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. The 20-piece Los Amigos Big Band entertained an oversold afternoon crowd in Quatro Sentitido’s vast rooftop space in its debut as a big music venue without a hitch. The band, led by Paul Silverman, set up for the Christy Philipson-produced concert with the lake and mountains in a stunning backdrop.
The restaurant staffed up for the 100+ Covid-spaced crowd and got people checked in and guided to their reserved tables and served drinks with smooth efficiency. Snacks and dinners were available from the menu and rolled out of the kitchen as if an overflow crowd was an everyday routine. Quatro Sentido has been hosting a smaller version of the band on Thursdays for some time, so this was not a completely new experience, although the audience size was much larger than the Thursday crowds.
The band, comprised of 20 Mexican and Expat artists, plus 4 outstanding vocalists–Christy Carter Caldwell, Andrea Pérez Romero, Wanda White, and Lorenzo Elmo Adam, was founded by local musician and entrepreneur Christine Philipson. She brought in a professional sound setup with a full control board, microphones for each of the 20 musician and for the vocalists, all tuned and monitored by a skilled sound engineer who delivered clear, high quality sound at precisely the right level.
Quatro Sentido added extra sunroofs to keep the band and the audience cool while leaving the airiness and sunny feeling of their rooftop location. Because of the spaciousness of the venue couples could dance without coming within the Covid distance of the tables.
Los Amigos delivered 2 sets with a 25-minute break. The highly polished music was mostly jazz standards with a little swing and Mexican classics. The band delivered instrumentals as well as music for the 4 vocalists, with hot guitar, drum and trumpet solos and section breakdowns that demonstrated the high level of skill of every member of the band. A mobile radio microphone enabled the vocalists to move freely around the stage.
Given the success of the first concert, Philipson is envisioning more concerts or even musical reviews at Quatro Sentido or even visiting talent. Her idea may strike a spark with local audiences; as one person said, at the concert what a great way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday Ramón Cevi and a group of volunteers handed out water, popsicles and fruit.
Sofía Medeles (Ajijic, Jal.) – During the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, the long lines left many elderly people in the hot sun for hours, but the people of Ajijic recognized the problem and stepped up to help the elderly in any way they could to ease their wait in line.
One way they assisted the waiting seniors was to help them assemble the necessary documents and copies,( copy of INE, proof of address, CURP and registration folio), a common request. So teachers and students of the Center for Technological Studies in Continental Waters (CETAC) borrowed the facilities of the Virtual Library in the «Parque de la amistad» to install computer equipment and printers to complete the needed paperwork. Some volunteers even made copies in their private businesses.
«This is to help the people of Ajijic and to say thank you for how much we have been helped with the CETAC facilities,” said Bernabe Robledo, in charge of CETAC 01 Ajijic, who added that volunteering serves the students to raise awareness and promote the values of helping others. He complimented the girls who helped: Valeria Hernandez, Angeles Perez, Leticia Robledo, Camila Suarez and Teresa Parra.
Some volunteers assisted with food, both for those who were waiting, as well as for the doctors, nurses, registration personnel, officials and brigadistas who worked long days of more than 12 hours. Some volunteers spent most of the day handing out apples, and food as needed by the workers.
Four young people from Ajijic took on the task of preparing and taking food to the doctors, security personnel and other servers involved. They served 100 lunches and the bottles of flavored – and natural- water donated during the day on Wednesday.
Many villagers were similarly inspired and handed out bottled water to combat dehydration and heat stroke among the elderly. Members of the project «La Tradición de Ajijic» helped with bottled drinks , telling Laguna that the positive comments they received from the elderly encouraged them to work even harder.
On Thursday, another group of volunteers helped by handing out natural water, popsicles and fruit. The local government also handed out bottled water to seniors who showed up for the vaccination.
«We were very well taken care of, with music, cool water and refreshments – it looked like a private hospital,” said Don José. “Me and my wife and all the others who were here thank everyone for their help, because they gave us courage and comfort in this long wait,” Don José said thanking the volunteers for the attention they gave to everyone. Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan
Enrique de Allende finishes the Concert in the Park with “You Raise Me Up” while LCS Board President watches from the side.
Patrick O’Heffernan, English Editor. A nearly full house greeted Enrique de Allende and his piano accompanist last Saturday as he strolled onstage, flashed a 1000-watt smile and greeted the audience with a bit of his personal story delivered in the signature smooth golden voice before kicking off over an hour of music.
He gave the audience thirteen songs, mostly golden age covers, but some Spanish songs and Spanish versions of American classics, interspersed with conversations, shout outs to his girlfriend at one of the tables and expressions of gratitude to LCS for allowing him to sing in front of an audience – a treat he has been missing due to Covid.
Beginning with a classical love song in Spanish, his operatic tenor filled the lawn and the gazebo. He wrapped up the concert with the 2001 Secret Garden song “You Raise Me Up” in English and was brought back for an encore, the Spanish “Ver A Mi”. Early in the concert he took off his jacket in a concession to the heat, revealing the muscular body that carried him through an Olympic-level soccer career before he turned to music. The entire performance was livestreamed on the Facebook pages of both Semanario Laguna and Lake Chapala Society.
Some audience embers interviewed by Laguna did not know who he was before LCS promoted the performance, but signed up for the concert because they, like Enrique, craved live music and looked forward to a sunny afternoon with friends and drinks and food from Angelica’s. Audience comments to Laguna afterward were along the lines of “a gorgeous voice from a gorgeous man singing songs we know and love – bring him back!”
Next week LCS is bringing back Kim Kuzma and her band, a frequent visitor to Ajijic. Voted Canada’s Best Independent Artist by fans at canadian-music.com and five-time West Coast Music Award nominee, winning ‘ Best Independent Recording’, Kuzma is an international singing sensation whose music and sassy stage conversations with audience members makes her performances at LCS a golden ticket sellout. Tickets will be limited to 100 seats for each performance, advanced purchase only. No tickets sold at the gate. VIP tickets (50 seats, features prime location with table): $500 MXN General Admission tickets (50 seats arranged in rows) are priced at $350 pesos. There will be 2 performances, 2pm and 4:30 pm.
The Concerts in the Park Series is not only a welcome diversion for Ajijic residents but, given the fall off in membership this year at LCS due to the pandemic and many members not being able to come to Ajijic from Canada, the income is important to LCS.
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Entrance to new Super Fresh Market in West Ajijic
Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic. If you live in West Ajijic and you have been trekking into town for fresh fruits and vegetables, and quality meats cut to order, the trek is over because the Ajijic-based Los Amigos Fresh Market has opened a Super Fresh Market on the Careterra in West Ajijic.
Occupying a former restaurant, the new market is owned by the Asociacíon Los Amigos, a three-person investment club that started the Los Amigos fresh market in Ajijic. Super Fresh Market in West Ajijic carries a larger line of produce than their smaller store in Ajijic, plus it serves breakfast and sandwiches on its terrace. A coffee shop is in the works.
“The owners decided to open a store in West Ajijic because there are many Americans here and they had to go into town to buy the good fresh fruits and vegetables they want, Fresh Market employee Sindy Jaquelin Gómez told Laguna, “and many people in the area told us there is no place to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables.”
Since they were moving into a former restaurant with a kitchen they decided to make fresh food, currently breakfast and sandwiches. While Laguna was touring the market, one of the cooks assembled the ingredients for fresh salsa, using peppers from the market’s shelves.
“We try to offer only the best quality,” Jaquelin Gómes said, “ and we go to the best fruit and vegetable outlets in Guadalajara to get it.”
Jaquelin Gómes is looking forward to opening the coffee shop with its terrace tables. She thinks it will become a West Ajijic social center where people can shop and then have lunch or a coffee while they talk with friends.
“Our goal is to offer good quality at good prices combined with good food – I know because I tried it, and it was really good,” Jaquelin Gomes said.
Los Amigos Super Fresh market is located at Carretera Oriente 29 45920 Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
Car in Chapala.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Buying a car in Lakeside? Don’t count on getting your car on the road quickly. In fact you may have to wait a month while it sits on your dealer’s lot awaiting plates because the new appointment system is overwhelmed.
Karen Herrtwich, co-owner, with her husband, of S&S Auto in Reiberas de Pilar said that new and used car buyers need to be patient because license plate appointments now take 2 weeks to a month from the date of purchase. Herrtwich pointed out that before the system changed to appointments last October, she could usually walk into the office in Chapala the day after selling a car to complete the registration get the plates.
“ I went in to the license office in Chapala yesterday to plate a car we just sold and the first appointment was April 6 for a used car”, she told Laguna in a telephone interview, adding that “the system here is saturated and we are told it is because people from Guadalajara are coming here to get their plates because they can’t get appointments in the city.”
Other dealers have gold Laguna similar stories, including for registration in other states and Mexico City. I one case a car was sold by a local dealer at the beginning of the month and was to be plated in Mexico City, but it was two weeks until he could get the appointment. When the dealer showed up at the appointment, the license office manager said the staff were out sick with Covid and they could not do it. The dealer was not able to get another appointment until the 24th of the month – almost two weeks later and a month after purchase.
“There are no appointments available anywhere in the near future, “ Antonio Regalado, owner of S&S Car Solutions in Ajijic, told Laguna, adding that since the government went to an appointment and online systems last October, it is now very inefficient. “Before that we could just show up with the paperwork – now it takes weeks or more and husband and wife can’t register as joint owners online so they have to go in person”, he said.
INSERT QUOTE FROM DMV MANAGER HERE
Regalado added that a contributing factor is the lack of new cars for sale, even at new car dealers. He also said some dealers are opting to register cars in Estado de Mexico which is less expensive, but also requires a wait and a Mexico state address.
“There are no new cars available,” he told Laguna, they are backlogged due to covid and shipping problems, a claim backed up by Mexico’s auto distributors association AMDA which saw new car sales drop by at least 25.5% in 2020 . Many people are cancelling orders for new cars because of the waiting time, and buying used cars, which drives more people to apply for appointments for used car registration”.
Once a dealer or a buyer gets an appointment, there are usually not additional problems, Laguna was told, except for the case of the office not staffed due to Covid. But the system breakdown seems to be widespread; one dealer was told that offices as far away as Michoacán were overwhelmed by Guadalajarans and others trying to get appointments. A contributing factor may be last minute appointments to renew existing registration to get the discount.
Vehicle registration plates are issued in Mexico with unique visual designs by each state as in the US, but , but with a single national numbering system to avoid duplication of numbers between states. This requires coordination with the national government, an extra step in the process. Every year, owners of Mexican-registered vehicles pay the tenencia or revalidación de placas (car plates renewal tax) between January and March. As with other taxes and fees, the government offers a discount for early payment. In Jalisco you can pay online at Adeudo Vehicular’s website: https://gobiernoenlinea1.jalisco.gob.mx/vehicular, or in person at the Chapala office #026, located at Degollado 306, in Chapala. For new plates you must make an appointment at the office. Mexican car registration includes one pair of plates and a windshield sticker.
Peggy Lord Chilton at the LLT Legacy Project.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. The Lakeside Little Theater continues to mine the huge pool of top level theatrical talent living in Lakeside and working with the theater in its landmark Legacy Project, this week posting an intimate interview with the actress, director/comedian Peggy Lord Chilton.
Chilton has directed a musical and 6 plays at LLT and acted in nine. Her career included stage, recording a comedy album, dozens of television shows and 17 films, three nominated for Oscars. She was a longtime staple at the Playboy Clubs as a comedienne (no Bunny suit), a skill she honed in an alley outside of a club she was appearing while n smoking cigarettes and exchanging notes with Phillis Diller. A spinoff of the Playboy Club role was her inspiring the Little Annie Fanny cartoon series by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder that ran in Playboy Magazine.
Lakeside Little Theatre’s Legacy Project shares stories from some of the theater’s highly talented members, directors and performers The first video in this series was launched in December starring Barbara Clippinger who provided a snapshot of her life on Broadway and television working with stars like Jackie Gleason and Sammy Davis Jr..
The Legacy Project is available at https://www.lakesidelittletheatre.com/the-legacy-project
Spencer Day and Effie Passero at LCS Concert in the Park.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. A full house – or lawn – greeted Spencer Day, Effie Passero and Zoe Wood as they made their way to the outdoor stage on the LCS lawn last weekend. They returned the love with favorites like the Beatles “Come Together”, and the Mexican classic “La Llorna” plus a slew of applause-generating originals like “Movie of Your Life” And “My Prometheus”.
The packed chairs’ and tables were in response to the popularity and fame of the leads; Spencer Day is a Billboard #1 modern jazz singer and songwriter best known for his hit jazz single «Till You Come to Me» as well as appearing on the CBS television network show Star Search . Effie Passero was an American Idol star. Originally trained in opera, she is well known in the US and Puerto Vallarta for her powerful vocals and joyful stage presence. Zoe Wood is an in-demand singer/guitarist/composer Puerto Vallarta music scene.
The musicians performed two shows, keeping their energy up at a high level, receiving standing ovations at the end of each set, and staying after each show to chat with LCS members. The concert was held on the grass and in the gazebo with all audience members socially distanced and masked (except when drinking and eating the snacks and dinners provided by Chef Ray Domenech from Angelica’s Café at LCS.
Strolling the grounds during both concerts was Luis Pacheco, new LCS Executive Director, beaming because he not only loved the music, but he loved to see the full VIP tables and gazebo audience.
“Yes, we are making money on the concerts: after expenses and paying the artists we will raise funds for LCS,” he told Laguna. Given the fall off in membership this year at LCS due to the pandemic and many members not being able to come to Ajijic from Canada, the income is highly welcome, as is the music.
The series will continue Saturday March 28 with Kim Kuzman band, a favorite of the Lakeside LCS community. LCS will produce 2 performances, 2pm and 4:30 pm. Tickets will be limited to 100 seats for each performance, advanced purchase only. No tickets sold at the gate. VIP tickets (50 seats, features prime location with table): $500 MXN General Admission tickets (50 seats arranged in rows) are priced at $350 pesos.
Ribera Medical Center will add an isolation ward.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Ribera Medical Center announced this week in its newsletter that its Board of Directors and owners have recognized the urgent need for Covid-19 treatment and decided to modify the hospital to provide an isolation ward which can be used for Covid 19 treatment.
RMC’s related facility, Chapala Med, currently offers Covid-19 Respiratory rehabilitation to those now recovering from COVID and not contagious., provided by Jalisco’s premier Covid respiratory therapist Paulo Gonzalez.
RMC Medical Director Dr. Santiago Hernández , M.D. , told Laguna in a phone interview that an isolation ward will have to operate independently with its own entrance, staff, and equipment, Covid patients will not be allowed to come to the ward through the hospital, but will have to enter directly into the ward through a separate, safe entrance, and remain in the ward, completely separate from the rest of the hospital. RMC, Lakeside’s newest hospital, is located at 153 Libramiento in Ajijic, across from the Hotel and Condos Lago de Chapala El Dorado.
Dr. Hérnandez said that modifications will take some time and will have to be inspected and approved. The progress of the ward will be covered in future newsletters, along with information regarding the Covid treatment protocols. He recommends that as the hospital releases treatment information, people should add it to their medical history and emergency files at home.
Rolf Stengel in the doorway of the newly reopened Bar El Camaleón.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Music and cocktail aficionados, not to mention a loyal drinking crowd, were crestfallen in March when the iconic Bar El Camaleón closed, unable to stay in business because Covid restrictions and its owner’s husband’s illness forced it to cut its businesses and eventually close. But they can now rejoice because it has reopened, slightly reconfigured, but with music, art and of course mixed drinks, tequilas, mescals and beers.
Bar El Camaleon was opened in 1995 by a group of Guadalajara artists led by Germán Adolfo Villa Guzmán. It was originally a bar-restaurant-gallery located at Marcos Castellanos #2. Food gave way to drinking , music and art about three years later and the bar/gallery/music venue continued on uninterrupted for two decades until March of this year when it shut down, reportedly permanently.
But icons never die – they reopen and keep going. Long-time bartender/manager Rolf Stengel sat down (at the bar, of course) with Laguna to report that the owner had decided to reopen it February 8. What made a new start possible was the remodeling to create a space for the new Gallery 2 to open onto Marcos Castellanos (also known and Ramón Corona) and shifting the bar entrance to its other side, 29 Constitución. This enabled the bar and the gallery to split the rent, making it possible for the bar to make ends meet, despite still slow business.
“Business is still very slow”, Stengel told Laguna, “but I think it will catch up now that the restrictions have been lifted. We are seeing some of our old customers return,” he said, adding that they have music which brings in business. Bands are scheduled for the next two weekends.
What used to be the back half of the bar and the upstairs area is now occupied by Gallery 2 which is operated by a long-time customer of Camaleon. Because the wildly painted exterior of the Bar El Camaleon wraps around the building from Constitución to Marcos Castellanos, catching the eye of art-shopping tourists who see an opportunity to refresh themselves after a hot afternoon of gallery-hopping, or to come back later for beer and music.
Rolf is happy to be back and looks forward to his regulars trickling in as news spreads that the Bar El Camaleon is open, and to greeting new customers who come for the weekend music… another sign that Ajijic is starting to change its colors, chameleon-like – from closed down to exciting.
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