1966
Mercy flight to Cleveland
A small engine Cessna 210 took off August 23 from Guadalajara Municipal Airport for Cleveland, Ohio.
To fit in the stretcher carrying Paul Mantross of Guadalajara, the pilot’s and co-pilot’s seats had to be moved, the stretcher planed at an angle and bolstered on all sides with valises to keep it steady on landings and takeoffs. All these preliminaries taken care of, Charles Kline, Veterans’ Service Officer and architect of this planned flight climbed in, Luis Mejorada revved up the plane and they were off for the veteran’s hospital in the United States. Since Mejorada’s English is sketchy and since Charlie, while a pilot on his own, was without his license, the most important task falling his way was to talk the plane up and down when they reached the United States. Further, upon landing, it was his job to remove Mantross to a motel so the sick man could gather strength for another day of flying. After three days the plane touched down in Cleveland, an ambulance took the ill man to the hospital and Mantross’ wife Joy reported, “All is well.”
1976
Peso devaluation
While Mexico’s decision to float the peso and sever the currency from its dollar anchor was lauded as a “positive and opportune” move by international finance experts, the de facto devaluation has provoked a short-term monetary crisis within the country. With the peso at 20.45 to the dollar, many retail outlets simply are not selling their merchandise or selling only selected small portions of it. In Guadalajara at the English-language bookstore Libros, Libros, Libros, no books are being sold this week, only magazines and newspapers. New and used car prices have jumped from 20 to 30 percent. At Laboratorios Julio, a local camera supply store, prices jumped 45 percent. Some canned goods and liquor prices have risen this week and some expats have said their landlords are illegally demanding rent in dollars and boosting rents steeply.
Bank activity in Mexican border towns reached near panic proportions in the days following devaluation. Hundreds of Mexican and Mexican-North American holders of checking and savings accounts and investments withdrew their money, while other bought dollars. Nearly three billion dollars were pulled out of Mexico just before the currency began to float. Among those hardest hit by the floatation of the peso are the thousands of retired U.S. citizens who have invested an estimated six to eight billion dollars in high-interest peso notes issued by Mexican development banks.
1986
Ice skater seeks gold
18-year-old Diana Encinas Evans won the first Mexican Women’s National Ice Skating Championships and is now training to represent the country in the next Winter Olympics. Born in Zapopan, Evans went with her mother Libby to the United States early on and began training on the ice in California at age eight. She left school after 5th grade in order to train constantly. She was tutored three times a week at the ice rink. During her years in California, Evans competed in hundreds of competitions. She was ranked in the top ten U.S. skaters at the intermediate level at age 14. She is now training eight hours a day, six days a week to pass the two levels of proficiency competitions. Competitions will be held in Mexico City in January 1988 to select the Mexican team for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Jalisco quake anniversary
With 43 percent of the southern Jalisco earthquake reconstruction program completed, the state treasurer said that 821 new houses had been built and 507 repaired.
The state has promised to construct a further 1,141 dwellings and repair 617 more homes.
A total of 6,595 houses were either destroyed or damaged in the September 1985 quake as well as 50 schools and 79 churches. Due to prompt military and civilian rescue work the death toll in this state was limited to 38 with 689 people injured. So far the state has spent all of the 3.4 billion pesos in grants and donations on the rebuilding efforts.
1996
Crackdown on rebels
Thirteen people died in a series of raids against military and public security targets in 32 states August 29. The perpetrators were the well-armed and organized Ejercito Popular Revolucionario (EPR). This is the worst guerrilla activity since the Zapatista Army overran towns and villages in Chiapas January 1, 1994. In the days following the attacks thousands of troops were dispatched to seek out the insurgents.
The EPR is the heir of the 1960s and ‘70s PROCUP-PLDP rebel group that waged guerrilla warfare in Guerrero and Oaxaca. It went underground in the mid-1970s and resurfaced with intermittent bombings in the early 1990s and a rash of them in early 1994 to express solidarity with the Zapatistas. The catalyst that led PROCUP-PLDP to set up EPR as its military arm was the June 28, 1995 slaughter of 17 peasant-farmers by state police near the Guerrero village of Aguas Blancas.
2006
Cop on rampage
Two Chapala police officers were taken to a clinic after being badly beaten by a mob that took matters into their own hands after one of the officers forced his way into a Chapala home at 3 a.m. and began choking a man. Officer Jesus Sanchez was accused of going on a drug-crazed violent rampage in the kitchen of the home while family members and neighbors roused by the ruckus came to the rescue of the homeowner.
Chapala police arriving at the scene took the two officers for medical attention and later held them at the Chapala Police station. Chapala Police Chief Ramon del Arco and Public Security Director Fernando Flores at first took stood up for the officers, thinking they had been hurt while intervening in a street fight, but a toxicology report showed Sanchez to have high concentrations of cocaine in his blood, 12 hours after the melee. Said Mayor Arturo Gutierrez: “This government will not cover up for anyone at whatever level of command.”
Calderon clings to victory
Felipe Calderon moved one step closer to Mexico’s presidential seat with the resolution of 375 election complaints. Although he lost 81,080 votes in a partial recount involving 11,839 voting precincts, he managed to cling on to a narrow 0.58 percent point advantage over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. In tossing out ballot counts in precincts where serious irregularities were detected, the Federal Election Tribunal sliced votes off the initial tallies for all five political parties in the presidential race. But the tribunal found no overwhelming evidence of fraud, attributing most discrepancies to unintentional human error.