Each week we select articles from local newspapers that amuse or interest us and then translate them into English. We wish to stress that these translations are literal --English versions of exactly what was originally written in Spanish by reporters for Por Esto, Diario de Quintana Roo, Novedades and El Seminario. It should also be mentioned that we cannot always verify the facts in the stories we publish here. We leave that job to the newspaper that originally published the article. We appreciate hearing from our readers so please feel free to E-Mail US your questions, suggestions and comments. You may also wish to consider starting a discussion on any topic below that interests you by posting on the Living on Cozumel Forum.

Note: These articles are a great deal of work to find and translate. They are under copyright. But we all know what a temptation it is to want to share interesting info all over the internet. We don't mind you copying short snippets. But .....

The Cozumel News in English, Vol 25

March 19-25, 2005

Please note we have temporarily lost our expert local translator and in the interim, the editors are soldiering through with the help of some pricey translation software and the very kind assistance of Israel Sanchez, a professional translator who has volunteered to help us with the more difficult passages. (Thanks, Izzy!)

Hotel occupancy this week are reported to be 98% by Javier Aranda Pedreros, manager of Tourist Promotion for the Cozumel Hotel Association. He went on to say that they expect a rise to 100 percent in May with the arrival of Europeans on the new First Choice Charter out of Liverpool, England. In addition, Mexicana Airlines will soon be resuming nonstops to the island.

With regard to this matter he explained that the hotel occupancy has been rising throughout the month but that right now during this period of Easter vacations, he finds the hotel occupation at 98 percent.clarifying that this increase will benefit not only the hotel sector, but to all of the business people who provide tourist services to the city.

He mentioned that this year's figures significantly topped last year's for the same period due in large part to the additional flights coming directly into Cozumel. He explained that 80 percent of tourists were from North America (Mexico, Canada and the United States) and five percent European.

Aranda Pedreros asserts that the dive fairs he attended recently in London and later in Berlin have created great expectations of an increase in this tourist segment beginning in the month of May as his prescence at the trade shows stirred up much interest within England and Europe to come to Cozumel for the watersports.

He said that his objective in attending these trade shows was two fold. One was to promote Cozumel in the British market now that there will be a direct flight to the island beginning in May. Secondly, he broadcast wide-spread international attention for an event called Underwater Mexico in which many people will be participating.

He culminated indicating that also in May Mexicana Airlines would resume nonstop service to the island. Although Aerocaribe plans to suspend the air shuttles between Cancun and Cozumel on April 30. During the vacation season, Mexicana plans to fly two nonstops per week from Mexico City to Cozumel using new Airbuses with larger capacities.

PRI committee president Raquel Perez Mac said that her party was fragmented and that's why they lost the February 6 mayoral election.  Perez Mac made these observations at a recent celebration marking the 76th anniversary of the institution.

Until last month's defeat, Cozumel was considered a bastion for Quintana Roo's PRI.  Municipal directors are now asking for unity and hard work from the faithful, so that they can regain their position of power over the next three years.

76 years after the political party's birth, Mexico's PRI is fragmented and divided from top to bottom, and Cozumel could not escape that phenomena.   An example was PRI militant Gustavo Ortega Joaquin's exit from that party because he felt their mayoral candidate selection process was unfair.  His departure provoked a sharp division among party members in Cozumel, with some following him to the PAN party, which ultimately won the February election.

Their presence at various points of the eastern part of the island has helped many tourists and locals to get through difficult situations and solve vehicular problems related to the island's zone. The so-called Green angels are a salvation for many drivers because they seem to be there when they are most badly needed.

The boss of the so-called Green Angels' reserve corps, Fernando Valencia Yeh, indicated that monthly they offer road assistance to over 120 road tourists as well as to the local people, because their mission is to help people or drivers whose vehicles have suffered problems of one kind or another.

He indicated that normally the assistance they offer are transfers of mopeds with punctured tires, tire changes on automobiles,mechanical problems, lack of fuel, vehicles that get stuck in sand, in short, a variety of assistance that they offer people..

He said that each day beginning at 8 in the morning one of the units starts its journey from the top of the Puerta Maya pier area.
While the other vehicle heads east from the traffic circle with the conch statue and out along the cross island road.

In this manner they cover all the major routes to and along the eastern part of the island and can attend to the needs of citizens and tourists in need. This assistance service continues from 8 AM to 7 PM after which time most vehicles are not found in this zone due to darkness and the lack of any electricity.

He emphasized that all the members of the Green Agels' group are mechanics. And all have some command of English since the principal incidents that they take care of involve tourists because so many of the thousands of people who arrive on the island are interesting in getting to know Cozumel's eastern zone.

Finally, he emphasized that the service they offer is completely free and does not have a cost. The one thing that the assisted person has to pay for is the voacher if they are given fuel.
Because there's no provision for this in the monetary supports provide by the Secretary of Tourism's office.

Neighbors in the Emiliano Zapata section of San Miguel are complaining that the proprietor of a metal recycling company is dismantling six container boxes of small parts -- all day long and into the night, provoking noise and making it impossible to sleep. Besides this they complain that workers consume alcohol at the property and offend any woman that goes by the place.

Angel Martín Arce Rivera, who has been identified as the proprietor of the lot where the work is being done, agrees that the company does not have the permission of authorities to work in a populated area.

Some 100 inhabitants of the biggest zone of the city are in the process of procuring signatures for a petition so that the authorities will act against Arce Rivera. Otherwise, they say, they will plant themselves in front of City Hall until someone pays attention.

María Elena Abizar Hernández, one of the affected neighbors, commented that from the moment this person began the work last week, the neighborhood has been continually bothered by noise and dust. María Elena complained that during the night they do not sleep and it is necessary to talk at the top of one's voice due to the noise that is provoked by the shattering of aluminum.

"There are babies and people that needed to sleep to work and this mister that doesn't even live here let alone have a permit to do this work. He should not be permitted to do this," blurted the visibily upset woman.

Several neighbors made good use of the media's presence to dare Angel Martín Arce to repeat his boast that he has a direct line to the new mayor of the city and therefore is untouchable.
The businessman denied the neighbors's affirmations in front of such accusations and insured that the noise was not all that excessive.

Questioned about whether he had permissions to do the work, Martín Arce countered that he had been doing this kind of work for 15 years and had never had to request permission of the authorities before.

Despite the fact that braiding tends to be in great demand by island visitors, the job yields very little for the workers dedicated to this particular profession.  One of the primary reasons for this is because many tourists want to bargain on the established price, and another is that the island is saturated with braiders.  Socorro Garcia Cruz, who has been working in the field for the last ten years, made these statements.

Garcia Cruz, who has lived on the island for 30 years, said that the majority of her clientele is cruise ship passengers, and the customers range in age from the very young to the very mature.  Despite the fact that there is great demand for the service, prices remain low because of the competition between many service providers.

Socorro went on to say that the job is extremely tiring and takes an average of one hour per customer.  The charge for braiding can be up to US$20.00, depending upon the length of the hair, but tourists always ask for a lower price.  The cost of doing business includes renting a location, as well as beads, and other materials used in braiding.

Socorro says that despite the fact that this is high season, she hasn't seen much difference in her daily earnings.  She blames this on local authorities that continue to authorize requests by individuals wanting to put new braiding concessions along the waterfront and downtown areas

The majority of Cozumel's businessmen and impresarios think that a project recently presented by the German company Lecosa Corporation sounds like a viable solution for the island's mounting garbage issue.  The business is already operating in Playa del Carmen, after an investment of 20 million dollars, and would potentially transport all of Cozumel's existing and future garbage to that site.  Now all we need to know is the cost of the service and the legal terms of the contract.  Mayor-elect Gustavo Antonio Miguel Ortega Joaquin has left the decision in the hands of the environmentalists and private initiative.

This global project's presentation is currently being applied in Playa del Carmen and Cancun, using existing landfills in those two areas.  Company representative Roberto Alcerreca said that their installations are located on 13 acres near the entrance to Tres Rios.  Their equipment has a capacity to convert 2,000 tons per day.

This is a business that began 3 years ago in this area, but has been in operation for more than 20 years in Mexico City.   By the end of 2006 they expect to have a total of 16 plants in Mexico.  One of them will be in Quintana Roo where they will treat the garbage from 4 different municipalities, with Cozumel tentatively being one of them.

In the specific case of Cozumel, Alcerreca has met with more than 30 businessmen, chamber members and environmentalists.  The plan for Cozumel includes trash collection, a change in sanitation vehicles, and daily service to this area.  In addition, they will purchase a boat for transporting garbage from Cozumel to the mainland, and will clean-up Cozumel's current dumpsite.

138 years after its creation, Cozumel's Civil Register needs a larger space, most importantly so it can safeguard historical treasures that are at risk of being lost.

This administration's "Adopt a Book" program has assisted in the restoration of 25 of the 40 record books that document marriages, births, deaths and divorces dating back to 1867.  Judge Bernardo Alonso Marrufo confirms that fortunately they will switch to a computerized system this year, but it's important that these historical documents be protected.

Cozumel's Civil Register was the first in the state of Quintana Roo and was installed in 1867 in accordance with Mexico's civil register law enactment.  The register is the oldest and most complete in the country, with 800 books, but there is not adequate space for the records, the oldest of which are in urgent need of restoration.

The books needing repair are sent to Mexico City for two months, with the average cost for refurbishing these books set at 2,500 pesos.

In spite of the fact that administrators and proprietors of moped rental agencies in downtown San Miguel have been fined for parking their vehicles in the public streets, they continue this practice further accentuating the parking problems attendant with the Holy Week vacation period. José Luis Pérez Pacheco, operating assistant director of Seguridad Public, insured that they will toughen the monitoring.

Although he did not specify the number and the total sum of the fines, Pérez Pacheco emphasized that they already have been applicable to a good number of moped rental business . He said officers of the Public Security force have also had direct conversations with the person’s in charge of these companies re blocking the roadway and obstructing traffic circulation.

The measure is obeyed for one or two days but after that they go back to placing their vehicles out on the street for rent again so it is very difficult to control them, complained the police boss.

He also emphasized that the problem will be even worse during this season of Holy week, obstructing traffic and making it even more difficult to find a parking place downtown.

A journey through the downtown area where the largest number of moped rental business are located confirms the facts. Mopeds remain for several hours on the streets and are even placed within just a few centimeters of parked cars so that many times the car is virtually trapped and cannot move since it is locked in on both sides by mopeds.

After their meeting last Thursday, Cozumel's current mayor, Carlos Hernandez Blanco, and mayor-elect Gustavo Ortega assured citizens that all is ready for a smooth transition between administrations.  They have set up a calendar and will work together reviewing the municipality, area by area,
with April 6th set as the final date for completing the process.  Hernandez Blanco indicated that no municipal projects would be left unfinished.

According to Carlos Hernandez Blanco, teams formed to effect a smooth turnover are headed up by comptroller Lorena Gandara Gamez and Raul Lopez Osorio, representing Ortega.

Gustavo Ortega and his cabinet will formally begin their administration on April 10, 2005.  The mayor assured that he has made great advances in preparing for the hand-off and has offered the mayor-elect the best information possible in order to guarantee that everything goes smoothly.

When questioned about whether the new administration would inherit any unfinished projects,  Hernandez Blanco emphasized that not one single public works project would be left behind.  He clarified that the only remaining will be monies that have been earmarked for activities to be undertaken by the incoming administration; however, he would not give any specific
details.

Crewmembers aboard the Allegro yacht are being interrogated by Cozumel's harbor master in an effort to determine the cause of an accident that took the life of Jaime Agnesi Aguilar.

Port captain Heriberto Santos Salinas said the initial inquiries indicated that the boat was not in motio, and that is was a wave that pushed the impresario against the propellers of his luxury yacht.

As was previously reported, a man identified as Jaime Agnesi Aguilar died when he was swept into the propellers of his yacht, which had come to Cozumel from Puerto Aventuras, with Cuba as their final destination.  The victim is related to Alberto de la Torre¸the president of Mexico's soccer federation.

Martin Perez of Staff Divers had been contracted as a dive guide by Agnesi Aguilar and his party for that day.  He stated that that yacht was several meters from the spot where the group surfaced after their dive.  However, several strong waves pulled the victim and his wife toward that boat.

Cozumel's Animal Control Center was inaugurated and has begun responding to residents' demands that something be done about the proliferation of street dogs and cats.

The new installations, built at a cost of 911,866 pesos, boast an office with a waiting room, bathrooms, vaccination area, and 12 recuperation cages, as well as an area where animals are "sacrificed".

The entire urban area will be covered in an effort to pick up abandoned and roaming cats and dogs.  In addition, they will respond to resident complains regarding these kinds of animals.  Animals picked up by the dogcatchers will be held for a total of 7 days, giving owners the opportunity to claim them.  After that period, they will be incinerated, in accordance with Mexican law.

Owners that do come to reclaim their animals we be fined the equivalent of anywhere from 15 to 150 times the current minimum wage.

At any given time, there is an average of 6,000 registered dogs on the island, and another 3,000 street dogs.

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