In this monthly series, the Guadalajara Reporter republishes a few of the headlines from its May editions 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
1966
Gemini V here
The spacecraft Gemini V, which carried astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad around the earth in 120 orbits last August, will come to Guadalajara next Tuesday to remain on public exhibit for one week. The two-ton capsule has toured eight Latin American countries and returns soon to Houston.
Cruz Roja Chapala
The Chapala Red Cross laid the cornerstone of its own chapter building at the corner of Cristiania and the Lakefront drive, with many of the English-speaking colony attending the impressive ceremony on May 8, International Red Cross Day. The nucleus of the building fund was a check for 10,000 pesos presented by Chapala Mayor Luis Cuevas and accepted by his wife, Natalia Gomez, in her role as Chapala Red Cross chapter president. Another 7,000 pesos was collected from both Mexican and expat donors and yet another 7,000 from recent Red Cross day collections. Funds from the Red Cross luncheons, held monthly at the Beer Garden, presently pay for the rental of the temporary chapter headquarters.
1976
Birth control failing
Despite opening nearly 100 family planning centers staffed by an ambitious corps of doctors, social workers and public administrators, the concept of limiting population still faces stiff resistance from tradition and custom. Though free birth control is now available at these centers and 1.2 million women are using it, this still is only 20 percent of the child-bearing age women in Mexico. An estimated one million illegal abortions are performed in Mexico each year, resulting in an estimated 30,000 deaths. The government has continued to sidestep this touchy political issue. Sex education in schools is now underway, although a free textbook being used is criticized as being too explicit. Meanwhile, government funding of family planning has risen from $US40,000 in 1972 to $US7.4 million in 1975.
1986
Embassy bomb scare
“U.S. Central Intelligence Agency provocateurs” were imaginatively touted by Mexico’s left-wing parties this week as the phantasmal authors of the April 27 car bomb attempt against the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. While local police authorities are keeping a tight official lip on the bomb scare, increased vigilance is being felt throughout the Republic, including in Guadalajara, since the June World Cup soccer championships pose a potential south-of-the-border security headache as worldwide media attention will be focused on Mexico. Mexico’s elite Special Task Force, trained by French and Israeli anti-terrorist experts, and working closely with the FBI, are guarding 68 embassy buildings in Mexico City and also seeking out possible terrorist groups in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla and Queretaro.
A Molotov cocktail thrown from a moving vehicle hit the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, May 19; its first attack in recent history. But U.S. authorities report little damage and no injuries from the incident.
Canadians now here
Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Raymond Chretien arrived in Guadalajara last week to inaugurate the newly established Canadian consular service offices in Guadalajara. Allen Rose is the appointed honorary Canadian Consul for Guadalajara.
Minimum wage up 25%
Mexico’s minimum wage will rise to 1,900 pesos per day in Guadalajara, 1,675 in Chapala as of June 1. That is an increase of 25 percent from the 1,520 pesos per day rate now in force. This hike is in response to government subsidy cuts of basic foods and services begun last year, although it is less than workers hoped for. The price of corn tortillas increased 80 percent since the subsidy cuts from 45 pesos to 80 pesos per kilo. Mexico’s workers have suffered a 32-percent drop in purchasing power since 1982.
1996
Long-distance market
Telmex will lose its monopoly on multinational long-distance telephone service on January 1, 1997. Six competitors have gained concessions to operate the service, but Telmex will still control the local market. Some of the firms are already laying their own cables, but it will be years before they have matched even a small part of Telmex’s network.
Sex-slave testifies
Two Japanese men arrested on suspicion of enticing local girls to work as prostitutes in Japan have been formally charged. Shuitsu Sato, 47 and Isamu Fuji, 52, are accused of luring 3,000 women, mostly from rural parts of Mexico, into an international sex-slave ring recruited from Guadalajara, Sinaloa, Tijuana and Los Angeles. The story came to light after three women went to police with the tale of having been lured to Japan with promises of 600 dollars per month to work as restaurant hostesses. One there, the women found out they were required to sleep with customers at sleazy night clubs.
Tequila wars
Eight demonstrators were injured in scuffles with police May 9 as tempers flared in the ongoing conflict between tequila makers and agave producers. But both sides retreated just as the conflagration in the town of Tequila threatened to erupt into serious violence. This was the third blockade of the tequila plants since last November. Tequila producers have refused to buy all of the harvested agave, which is threatened with spoilage.
2006
British man murdered
David Betts, a 20-year British resident of Guadalajara who became well-known for his ability to repair recreational vehicles and campers, was murdered along with his Mexican wife at their home in Tlajomulco on May 12. Francisco Garcia discovered the bodies of his mother, Maria del Carmen Melendez Ortiz, 61 and Betts, his 62-year-old stepfather, lying face down in their half-filled bathtub. The couple had their legs tied with cable. Forensic scientists determined the cause of death to be drowning. Several people, one a former disgruntled employee, were arrested and charged with the crime some weeks later.
Drug policy easing
To the displeasure of the U.S. government and the Catholic Church, Mexico’s Senate liberalized the country’s rigid anti-drug laws, effectively legalizing the possession and consumption of small quantities of controlled substances. The bill, passed in early May by a 53-26 margin with one abstention, aims to focus law enforcement efforts on stopping the nation’s rampant trafficking activities instead of punishing consumers. The bill exempts from criminal charges people who are found in possession of up to one kilogram of peyote, five grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce) 25 milligrams of heroin and one-half gram of cocaine. Selling any quantity of drugs is still illegal.
Chemicals vs. lirio
Barely a month after initiating the use of chemicals to eradicate lirio acuatico on Lake Chapala, state officials claimed success, saying the quantity of weed levels choking Lake Chapala has diminished and no signs of increased toxicity have yet been found. Satellite images show water hyacinth now covering roughly 700 hectares of Lake Chapala, down from the approximately 3,000 hectares present when the weed killer Glyphosate was first applied April 23. Contrary to earlier fears, sediment levels are not increasing as the dead lirio, instead of sinking and decaying, washed ashore. Test results for elevated heavy metal levels — potentially brought about by the Glyphosate application — are still pending. San Juan Cosala-based fishermen reported hauling in more abundant catches and enjoying easier boating conditions on Lake Chapala. Local residents spoke of finding no dead fish.