Thread: My anger rises and rises and rises some more

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-m ... -headlines


"An abandoned trailer sprouted graffiti in English that read: "Gringos go home. This is Mexico."

Inside article already posted:

About 1,400 miles north in Baja California, Bob Torres says the $63,000 he lost on a modified trailer home was nothing compared with being deprived of his liberty.

In March, the Van Nuys cinematographer and his wife were arrested, shackled and held in a Tijuana prison because of a legal dispute with the owner of a Rosarito trailer park who was trying to evict them from their prized oceanfront lot.

Released on bail after three sleepless nights, they fled to the United States with no plans to return to their favorite getaway.

"Rosarito has a bitter taste for me now," Torres said. "I would not invest in Mexico again."

Torres, 60, said the decision was particularly painful because he and his wife had vacationed in Rosarito since they were children. Many of those years were spent in a seaside trailer park called La Barca, where the couple in 2002 secured a $300-a-month long-term lease on a lot with a spectacular ocean view.

Starting with a 35-foot travel trailer, they added on little by little, eventually creating a two-story, four-bedroom structure with a deck. Weekends and vacations were spent barbecuing with other longtime residents, mostly Americans, who formed a little expatriate family south of the border.

Torres said things changed dramatically last year when Fidel Valdespino, son of the park's longtime owner, took charge of a major portion of La Barca after his father's death the year before.

Torres said he arrived one weekend in September to find the water pipes to his dwelling had been severed.

Other former tenants, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that about the same time, their water and electricity were cut, access to the public beach was blocked with debris and the park was swept by a rash of burglaries. An abandoned trailer sprouted graffiti in English that read: "Gringos go home. This is Mexico."

The word around La Barca was that Valdespino was trying to pressure the tenants to give up their bargain-priced, long-term leases to make way for a more profitable condominium development. Many fled as conditions deteriorated.

Among the holdouts were the Torreses. Arriving at La Barca on March 18 for what they thought would be a relaxing weekend, they were arrested after Valdespino claimed that they had damaged the water pipes at the trailer park. A local judge found them guilty without hearing their testimony, according to their attorney, Jose Heing Chig Bazua.

The frightened pair spent three days and nights in the notorious La Mesa penitentiary in Tijuana. They were released after signing an agreement with Valdespino to remove their dwelling from La Barca within 30 days.

Valdespino denied making the allegations against the couple, saying the agreement for them to leave was a mutual one.

Informed that the structure mysteriously caught fire over the Easter weekend, the Torreses had a contractor haul it away for scrap.

"I am not going to fight it," Torres said. "I fear for our lives."

The atmosphere for Americans in Mexico has been deteriorating for a number of years.

My great uncle went to Mexico in about 1920 where he bought a large rancho and raised a family. They considered themselves Mexican...the children were all born there. But the Mexican government did NOT consider them Mexican and began to hassle them a lot.

Uncle Gus' family sold out the rancho and the stock and everything else in 1990 and came back to live in the US...they said that Americans were at risk there and told some tales of American tourists who were murdered...more times than one.

MJ

And the illegals come here to DEMAND all the goodies, while treating their American guests like dirt! I have no idea why illegals are allowed to own land in America at all! It is always all the goodies for them and nothing for us.

Why didn't our consulate do something to help this couple?
Investing in a Mexican real estate lease for retirement years was/is a very bad deal.

Originally Posted by MustangJo

Uncle Gus' family sold out the rancho and the stock and everything else in 1990 and came back to live in the US...they said that Americans were at risk there and told some tales of American tourists who were murdered...more times than one.MJ

Usually being murdered once suffices

maybe these people need to testify before Congress about how hospitable these 'good folks' are and what an asset they will be to our country

Your anger is going to raise another notch after you read my Open Border article I found and posted. Bush has sold us out.

Originally Posted by bearpaw

Your anger is going to raise another notch after you read my Open Border article I found and posted. Bush has sold us out.

what's the link?

Mamie,

Please go to the first page and search for Opening The Border post.