Gringos in Paradise by Barry Golson

Author:Barry Golson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2006-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

It is not the only unsettling moment of the week. I hear from a number of people, including Harvey, and the lawyer I hired for our hilltop sale, José Luis Barrios, that the enforcement arm of the state environmental agency has been on a rampage. A dozen gringos in town who are in the middle of construction have been served with notices that they are being shut down, since they had not applied for or received the proper environmental study, or an exemption from it. Nearly all involved had cleared lots within the urban zone, meaning that there was very little likelihood any environmental issues were involved. When the owners asked the enforcers how they might obtain either document, they replied that that was not their department. The owners were on notice, however, that fines could be as high as $10,000 and that it could take as long as three months for an approval—or denial—to be issued.

The word around town is that this is either payback for some of the antidevelopment stands taken by the gringo-dominated town environmental association, or, just as likely, some say, the final year in the electoral terms of officials eager to pocket the fines. Some gringos are so discouraged that they have packed up and gone back to the States. Our friends Bill and Kathy Glaysher have other reasons, too, but when they tell us they are giving up for this year and will come back to try to build again next winter, we are sorry to see them go.

It is disheartening. We are here to do things as legally as we know how, not to push our weight around, and to abide by all known regulations. And now it is possible we are going to lose our contractor Beto to another job, and our chance to build anytime soon, because of politics, graft, or bureaucracy. No one, however, has any idea which of the three is involved. Like Bill Kirkwood’s dogged attempts to investigate how to pay his taxes, it’s sometimes difficult to learn how to do the right thing in Mexico. That, and the capricious swing between rigorous law enforcement and no enforcement at all, can keep a person in paradise on edge.

I meet Aurelio as he is driving his truck through town, and he sees that I am down. He stops, gets the latest update on the problem, and says, “ Felicidades. You have me on your side. I, Aurelio Carrillo, will resolve this dilemma.”

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