In this monthly series, the Guadalajara Reporter republishes a few of the headlines from its July editions 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
1966
On the greens
The 70 male golfers who entered the first annual “Copa Consulado Americano” 72-hole medal play golf tourney at the Guadalajara Country Club congratulated Consul Charley Stuckey’s hole-in-one on the fourth hole that morning. But his blaze of glory was short lived. He and his consulate contestants won’t be playing in the next two rounds. U.S. Consul General Joseph J. Montllor inaugurated the American Consulate Cup this year, saying it will be an annual affair, always scheduled to terminate on the weekend nearest to the Fourth of July.
UAG gets US loan
The U.S. Agency of International Development is giving a loan of three million dollars to the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (UAG). The funds are allocated for construction on the university’s new site east of Lomas del Valle. The project of buildings and a large campus are part of the Autonoma’s five-year physical and scholastic expansion program.
1976
Guadalajara drenched
A July 17 rain storm caused flash floods to surge across Guadalajara, washing tons of mud and debris with destructive force into more than 200 homes. Especially hard hit were the northern and eastern sections of the city where a 14-year-old boy drowned, six homes were completely destroyed and walls, furniture, household goods and store supplies amounting into the hundreds of thousands of pesos were damaged beyond repair. A car was carried almost six blocks by the surging waters, which reached almost five feet on Avenida Revolucion near the Calzada Independencia.
Medicare abroad?
The Democratic platform committee has adopted a measure that could make Medicare available to U.S. citizens living out of the country if Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter is elected, and then if the measure can pass the U.S. Congress.
1986
Nuclear plant online
Mexico’s first nuclear power plant, Laguna Verde, is scheduled to become operational in mid-September after 12 years of construction. Opponents of the facility say it will endanger millions of citizens. The reactor will undergo a series of tests and finally produce electricity in March 2017. The second reactor’s completion has been slated for the following year, bringing the project’s total cost to over three billion dollars. The original budget for the plant was $US125 million. Critics say the enormous investment needed to build and operate the “white elephant” is tied to untimely loans which are part of the skyrocketing debt that is choking the Mexican economy.
Food supplies short
While admitting that imports of such basic foodstuffs as powdered milk and barley would reach seven million tons this year, Secretary of Agriculture Eduardo Pesquiera claimed that the Republic had achieved food sovereignty over the short term, despite falling wheat production. Jalisco federal deputies, local business leaders and consumers refute his over optimistic claims, citing continuing federal food subsidy programs and the newly proposed food coupon system to cover the purchase of corn, beans, rice, cooking oil and tortillas.
1996
Lakeside burglar back
Sergio Gomez Sanchez, the man known as the Lakeside Burglar, was close to being caught at the end of March, but the Jocotepec police allowed him to slip away, Chapala Mayor Jose Guadalupe Padilla told this newspaper. That close shave may have scared him off for a while, but after a two-month rest the dangerous criminal is back to his old tricks, preying on English-speaking residents. He was identified as the perpetrator of a spate of armed robberies in late February and March after he had recently been released from serving five years in prison for his role in robberies at Lakeside in 1998 and 1999. Authorities had thought he had fled the area following the shooting of a Canadian resident during a nocturnal break-in at the end of March, but reports of robberies in the last two weeks suggest this dangerous English-speaking criminal is back in business. One U.S. resident who has identified the man as that who robbed her and her husband at gunpoint said, “I’ll never forget his eyes. They were cold as ice.”
Spring breakers arrive
An avalanche of 6,500 spring breaker 18-21 year-old students from the U.S. and Canada swarmed into Puerto Vallarta last month. Their behavior left much to be desired although the six million dollars they spent helped the coffers of many businesses in a normally slow month. Several hotels refused to have the students back this year after “rowdy behavior caused long-term guests to say they’d never return,” said the Hotel Sheraton’s PR director. Vallarta’s police chief first told his officers to be lenient with the youths, but by the second week he had run out of patience and several arrests were made.
2006
AMLO says he’s prez
Although he fell short in the official vote count by some 240,000 votes and garnered the support of just 35 percent of the electorate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador crowned himself the victor anyway, saying in television interviews last Wednesday, “I am the president of Mexico by the will of the majority.” He called the July 2 election fraudulent and demanded a vote-by-vote recount.
Rich man’s tequila
The world’s most expensive alcoholic beverage was unveiled by Arandas, Jalisco-based Hacienda La Capilla tequila distiller Fernando Altamirano. The six-year aged 100-percent blue agave tequila “Passion Azteca” is of superior quality, but it is the bottle that brings the six-figure price tag of US$225,000. The bottle is hand crafted from pure platinum, shaped like a jagged seashell and etched with a dragon-inspired logo. Only 33 bottles were on sale, each took five months to craft. For thrifty imbibers, Altamirano crafted a US$15,000 gold and silver container.