Category Archives: La Yacata Revolution

December 9, 2025 · 8:00 am

Surviving Domestic Challenges

I last left my faithful readers of this colorful saga with the bombshell that my husband had locked me out of the house. I’ll need to provide some background information so you can understand how we arrived at this point.

My husband is an alcoholic. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He’s “tried” a variety of treatments over the years and has even maintained extended periods of sobriety. But it is what it is, and about a year ago, he started hearing voices when he was sober, or rather, while he was detoxing. Concerned, I did some research of my own, and as you might have guessed, that’s a sign of mental impairment caused by drinking.

So these voices were always negative, and they took on the sound of people he knew, the neighbor, his brother, his friend, even his dead mother. As he heard them plain as day, there was no convincing him that there was no one there. He withdrew from socializing during these periods (which typically lasted 3-4 days) and became a hermit. Once the voices stopped, he’d start drinking again, thus creating an endless cycle.

Naturally enough, eventually these voices started in about me. I have no idea what they told him, but he started accusing me of all sorts of things. Apparently, I was having affairs with every male in La Yacata (the person kept changing), I was doing illegal things (although he was never specific), and I was against him when I denied these ridiculous allegations.

In the last 6 months, his threats, insults, and general hostility towards me reached an all-time high. In between bouts of recriminations, I went about my life as best I could, attending to Yacata colonos, teaching my classes, doing household chores, taking the dog for walks, etc.

That particular Sunday, my husband set up an ultimatum. I either stayed home from the monthly community meeting, or I didn’t come home. I tried to be conciliatory and said I’d only be gone 2 hours, and then I’d make lunch, but that wasn’t enough for him. He was crying hysterically about how I was choosing the community over him and destroying our family. I left for the junta, and he locked and barred the door behind me.

After the junta, I tried to talk to him through the door, but he wasn’t having any of it. He’d been drinking pretty heavily for the past couple of days. So I went over to my son’s house, which is still under construction, and that’s where I’ve been ever since.

About 2 days later, my husband said I could come in and get some things, but only what I could carry, without any help. I moved as much as I could in the 30 minutes he gave me access while he followed me from room to room, screaming insults at me. I was able to get my computer, my underwear, my mattress, the cats, and a few kitchen items.

He told me that I had “left willingly” and that I took everything that I wanted, abandoning the rest, and the house, to him. Of course, that wasn’t true, but it was how he was going to spin things. The next few days consisted of him hosting rousing panchangas (parties) in front of the house and insulting me to his “friends” as they egged him on. All of those losers are without spouses currently, and they all had “war stories” and suggestions on how he could get his revenge on me.

After a few days of dealing with all that, I finally decided it was time to hire a lawyer. So I did. Things are still moving along in that process.

In the meantime, I had a plumber come in to finish the bathroom, and now my son, our two cats, six dogs, and I are all squeezed into his house. It was really meant for one person, but we’re making it work. With the legal costs piling up, I don’t have the funds to tackle the rest of the projects that would make the place more comfortable, but I’m hopeful that it won’t be too long before I’m back on my feet.

There’s truly never a dull moment here in La Yacata.

****

Read about how it all began in La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico.

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Tagged as auditory halluciations during detox, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, living with an alcoholic

November 26, 2025 · 6:10 am

A Committee for Honor and Justice?

One of the additions to the estatutos (community bylaws) that we revised in June was the formation of the Consejo de Honor y Justicia (Honor and Justice Committee). The idea would be that this committee, made up of community members in good standing, would provide support and assistance to the mesa directiva (board of directors). As treasurer of said board, I can attest to being overworked and was overly optimistic about this addition.

Well, when it came time to vote on members, we were blindsided. The most problematic colonos voted themselves onto the committee. I was furious after that community meeting. None of the members were honorable; most had ulterior motives (lots with questionable ownership, unpaid community fees, etc).

I was appointed the liaison between the mesa directiva and consejo, as I have all the files on all the lots, so if there is a question, I can reference those files.

The first meeting was tedious. The consejo presented the same propositions that had been repeatedly rejected by the Asamblea (community). I took notes to share with the mesa directiva. The facilitator did try and have them focus on several of the points that applied to them (ehem, paying aportaciones), but his efforts were wasted. When I complained, he said I needed to just trust the process. Can you hear my eyes rolling at that?

The consejo was supposed to continue with the reading of the estatutos at the next community meeting because the facilitator was going to be out of town. They didn’t do that. Instead, they brought up yet again these propositions that they’d been yammering on for months. For example, one “suggestion” they wanted adopted was a monthly fee of $100 instead of semester aportaciones. I’ve repeatedly explained that those who wish to pay monthly or even weekly are free to do so, and they have the full semester (which then was extended to a year) to do so. And $100 pesos wouldn’t cover any of the projects we have left to complete in the community in 50 years.

Anyway, at the end of that community meeting, in front of everyone, Super Prez gave them the assignment of finding out which colono was using the sewer to dispose of pig poop and coming up with a solution for the community. It would be a test of sorts of how well they could take on responsibilities in the community.

The next consejo meeting was full of complaints, one of which was mud. As we were knee-deep in the rainy season and the roads are not paved, mud is a natural occurrence. But that was somehow the mesa directiva’s fault. Then, when I was busy attending to a colono who dropped by, the consejo tried to question the relocation of 3 property owners to expand the area that would be needed by the community well. I heard their mutterings, explained the situation, and could name the colonos who were affected. As none of those colonos were bothered by the new property locations, then it wasn’t an issue for the consejo to bother their pretty little heads about. The situation about the pig poop, however, they determined to be too delicate a matter for them.

When I relayed that information to Super Prez, he was frustrated. He called them out about it, and things escalated from there. The consejo wanted a complete accounting of every single centavo, and when we pointed out that each and every colono received an individual account statement with that very information every semester, that wasn’t good enough. So a joint meeting was called.

As we are ever so careful with the handling of the funds given to us by the colonos, it wasn’t a hardship for us to come to the meeting prepared with reams of documentation that the consejo couldn’t even be bothered to look at. Instead, there was a direct attack on my attitude (which of course they waited to do until I had to leave to attend to a colono) and how I was taking on more tasks than my position as treasurer implied.

I do a lot of the work for the community out of necessity. I have the capability to do it, so I do it. This includes keeping the books, filing the documentation for the 600+ lots, meeting with colonos, accepting payments and depositing them in the bank, mediating small disputes, keeping track of issues that come up in the community, taking notes during the meetings and sharing summaries with the colonos, answering questions, showing new property owners where their lots are, making sure colonos receive their individual account statements each year, monitoring the Facebook and Whats App groups, and other items.

So for the next several months, the consejo would pitch a fit every time I did something. These attacks were mentally exhausting, but then I had to keep in mind who was doing all the complaining. As I mentioned, none of them were particularly honorable and would benefit from having a new, more malleable mesa directiva, and thus their efforts to destabilize and discredit our efforts have identifiable causes. It’s hard not to take it personally, though.

The colono with the questionable ownership lots tried to circumvent my involvement in getting his lots registered by turning over all the documentation (and certificate fees) to the secretary. He’s perfectly within his rights to turn over the documents to the secretary, but the fees must be paid to me as treasurer since I sign the receipts. So the secretary returned his money and told him that he would need to pay me once the documentation was complete. It’s been months now, and he still hasn’t provided a copy of his identification to register the lots. He has one excuse after another when pressed for his ID. He then complains to Super Prez and wants to know why his certificates aren’t ready yet. Fortunately, the mesa directiva is all on the same page when it comes to processes, and he isn’t able to circumvent them. In fact, I’d say that these relentless attacks have made the mesa directiva more unified than ever.

Is it worth the hassle to be part of the mesa directiva? Probably not. I face a lot of discrimination for being both a foreigner and a female. Would it be better if I weren’t involved? Perhaps I’d have a little more peace, but then I’ve yet to identify anyone else who would pick up the gauntlet and carry on towards creating a dignified community for all here. Am I just making myself a target? Perhaps. There are many layers to life in rural Mexico. Could I do anything other than what I am doing? I don’t believe I can, so there’s that. So it’s “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” for me.

And then my husband locked me out of the house.

***

Where did it all begin? La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico

Escrituras! Escrituras! Wherefore art thou, Escrituras?

In June, Super Prez was called unexpectedly to the presidencia and informed that if we were interested in proceeding with escrituras (individual deeds) for the community, we could do so, under certain conditions. Typically, escrituras are granted when at least 80% of the infrastructure for an area is complete, including sewer, water, electricity, and roads. If you’ve been following our story, you’ll know that we aren’t anywhere near 80%. However, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, we presented the opportunity to the colonos at the next junta.

The first question was how much it would cost. Because of our rural classification, most colonos were thinking about $5000 per lot. As that didn’t seem to be the amount that the presidencia was hinting at, we’d need to investigate further.

Unbeknownst to us, the presidencia went ahead and called a meeting in the cabildo municipal via Facebook. I heard about it the day before and told Super Prez he should be in attendance. I couldn’t go because I had classes. He was busy with electricity estimates and said he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Another colono attended and sent him a message shortly after the meeting started, saying his presence was urgently needed. Super Prez wasn’t too far away, swooped in to an illegal parking spot in front of the presidencia, and party crashed what had become a Yacata bashing session.

The colono who sent out the SOS said that upon Super Prez’s arrival, the tone of the meeting changed. No one DARED to badmouth La Yacata or the mesa directiva to Super Prez’s face. The meeting broke up shortly after that. Super Prez requested another meeting in the cabildo, with advance notice this time, so that we could get some details on the escrituracion process.

La mesa directiva, including myself, and a handful of colonos were present at the second meeting. We had specific questions that I divided among the colonos, including who would be the notario that would be in charge of the process, how much would it cost, and were there other restrictions that we needed to be aware of. The notario would be from another city, the cost would be $24,000, and the conditions of the escrituras meant that we would remain a colonia and could not petition the municipio for any basic services (water, electricity, sewer) that normally would be provided as part of the predial (yearly taxes) collected each year.

These conditions were not exactly favorable, but in our current condition, this would be the only opportunity we would have for escrituras until all the services were completed, which could take another 5 years. Feeling like we had received our answers that we could take back to the asamblea, Super Prez excused himself to attend to other matters.

The second he left the room, the criticism of La Yacata started up again, and it was fierce. Certain colonos in the room started in how the mesa directiva was corrupt and untrustworthy, that there was no progress, that we were dipping into community funds for our own benefit. I saw RED. After all the time and effort we had devoted to making La Yacata a more dignified place to live? This was the thanks we got?

The presidencia representative said that based on the complaints, he could take over community direction for the “good of the community”. I was livid. I literally stood up at that point and directly refuted some of the blatant lies spoken by the agitators in attendance. Of course, my righteous indignation did not help the fluidity of my Spanish, so I stumbled a few times. I also had to leave because I had classes, and this meeting had already gone on for 3 hours. So, in parting, I addressed the remaining colonos and told them I was leaving the defense of our community and mesa directiva in their hands and marched out dramatically, although probably not elegantly as flustered as I was.

Later, a colona who remained at the meeting said the first thing the representative of the presidencia said when I left was that all members of the mesa directiva should be able to express themselves well in Spanish or be replaced, a direct jab at my second-language abilities.

After that fiasco, we invited the enlace (representative) for the notario to the next community meeting so he could explain the process to the colonos. He sent a message right before the Sunday meeting saying that he would not be able to attend. We had the meeting anyway.

On Tuesday, we took a group of colonos to the presidencia to meet with the powers that be to see why the enlace was “unable” to attend. We got the run around, nobody was able to meet with us, blah blah blah, until we made it clear that we would remain there, in the lobby, until we were attended to. Not 30 minutes later, we were ushered into the cabildo. The enlace was called in to explain himself. He gave the excuse that he was afraid to come to La Yacata, which puzzled us greatly until we pieced together that he thought we were “Las Yacatas”, another community in the next municipality, near where 6 men were executed the previous Friday, all known to the enlace.

We confirmed the cost and that colonos would be able to pay for the escrituras in two installments, and the meeting ended.

Naturally, the colonos were flabbergasted at the cost, and it took some doing to explain that the escrituras were completely optional. Those who wanted to go through the process now could, and those who did not, were not obligated to do so. Either way, escrituras or not, all property owners would remain part of the colonia and have obligations towards community advancement and upkeep.

A mad rush of those who had not paid any aportaciones indicated their interest in escrituracion. People with certificates issued by the previous encargado (person in charge) appeared out of nowhere. Some of the lots they had certificates for were owned by others, so it was quite a time making sense of the ownership trail. Others were certain they could get their escrituras from another notario for cheaper and, therefore, bypass the process completely.

Ownership needed to be proven by an official document. At the last minute, parents wanted to gift their lot to their children, and married colonos wanted to add their current significant other. The property certificate then had to be reissued since the escrituras and the certificate needed to match exactly.

Then there was a subgroup of individuals who were no longer in possession of their property certificate for whatever reason. They believed that they could recover possession of said property via escrituras. Unfortunately for them, the original property certificate (not a copy) had to be turned over for the orden de escrituracion (deed order). Their applications for escrituras remained dead in the water at that point.

Then there were the names. Ma., Maria, M., Ma. de, and Jose, J., J. Gpe. Abbreviations or full names needed to match the INE (voter registration cards). Documents had to be reprinted and refiled.

It was absolute chaos for a time.

Anyway, the first step was the application for the permiso de division (subdivision permit). It’s a technical form, and not just anyone would be able to fill it out. Super Prez offered his services as an engineer for a mere $200 compared to the going rate of $1800 or more. There were complaints about that.

The permit itself was $382. Originally, this was to be paid in the presidencia, but they didn’t want to bother with the individual payments and wanted a lump sum, so when we had a group ready, Super Prez took the cash himself, only to be told that the official number registration fee would also need to be paid at the same time. This meant calling everyone back to bring the cash for that transaction.

There was so much paperwork. So many messages to colonos asking for documents, or information, or payments. So much hassle. I was in charge of trying to keep the paperwork in order, while Super Prez was in charge of the more technical aspects and meetings with the enlace and presidencia.

The first subdivision permits came back from the presidencia with errors and had to be resubmitted. The official numbers were issued using fractions of the colonia rather than the road and number. Fractions are not accepted by any agency (CFE, water, etc), so those were set aside to be given later, even though they needed to be paid for first, according to the presidencia.

The fiscal year ends on December 15. Although the process of escrituracion can be done next year (or even the year after that), the price goes up every fiscal year. So we have been working overtime to try and get these packets of papers turned over to the enlace (representative) before the deadline for those who wish to get their escrituras right now. And this is a negative cost-benefit for the community. The 50 or so colonos, most of whom owe aportaciones (community fees), will have their escrituras, but we still won’t have enough money to pay the electricity contractor.

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Curious how it all started? La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico