Tag Archives: living in rural Mexico

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.

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

Flipping the Switch on Community Power in La Yacata

In October, we started a new community electricity project. It’s really a continuation of the area that was covered by the federal grant we got last year that provided the colonia with electricity. Unfortunately, that little grant didn’t run lines to all the houses that are inhabited in La Yacata, and it took nearly a year to get this project rolling, what with estimates from different contracting companies, applications to CFE for another little grant, and trips to Guanajuato, Salvatierra, and Celaya for approval and paperwork. After some false promises, CFE Guanajuato dashed our hopes for any additional assistance from that quarter. Looked like we’d have to foot the bill ourselves.

Then the estimates from those contracting companies had to be brought before the colonos for approval, and there’s always hemming and hawing when that happens. Hence the delay.

The three main roads will have the lines finished, and 3 private roads will have posts installed. There’s a total of 11 posts and public lighting in those areas. All the lots in the dark purple area will then have access to electricity. The green areas are those that were covered by the grant last year.

When we set the second-semester aportación (community fees) last year, this project was included in the total amount requested. So those who have paid their aportaciones for 2024 had nothing more to contribute. Unfortunately, a good portion of colonos are in arrears, and without their money, we won’t be able to pay the contractor.

We sent an update letter in February to all the colonos and followed up with a personal messenger appointment notification in September for those that were not up to date with their aportaciones. Super Prez wanted to make home visits, but I objected. I didn’t have time for that. So the personal messenger was the compromise we made. We then set aside every Tuesday in October to receive these delinquent property owners. It was a colossal waste of time. The money received from this batch of foot-draggers didn’t even pay for the cost of having the notices delivered.

The next step is some sort of legal action. As we are a colonia, property owners are expected to abide by the regulations set forth by the community, one of which is payment of the aportaciones for community projects. In June, we had several lengthy community meetings to share those regulations with community members. These estatutos hadn’t been updated since 1995. Some of the bylaws were eliminated, including one that prohibited unmarried individuals from owning property in La Yacata. Others were clarified, such as the procedure for unbecoming community behavior, which includes non-payment of aportaciones. And some were added, like the formation of the Consejo de Honor y Justicia (more on that fiasco in another post).

During October’s community meeting, we brought up the idea of multas (fines) for those who have not paid. The asemblea determined 20% would be acceptable and that these deadbeat colonos would be referred to the CEJA (Centro Estatal de Justicia Alternativa) office in the next town over.

There was a small rush on payment of aportaciones the Tuesday following the junta, but not enough to make a dent in the amount we would need to pay for the current electricity project. Super Prez then asked for the phone numbers of colonos who have not paid, and he spent some time calling them to encourage them to pay up. Again, there was a small trickle of funds, but not enough to justify the time invested.

Super Prez again brought up the idea of home visits, and I shook my head emphatically. What we need to do is go to the CEJA office and find out what they need to start calling colonos in for mediation.

Unfortunately, there was a new wrench in the works. In June, the presidencia authorized escrituras (individual deeds), and the paperwork involved for that has been taking up every waking minute right now, but more on that in the next post.

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Need to see how it all began?

Check out La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico available on Amazon.

The Great Sewer Standoff

This month, our community drama had to do with the sewer line. The issue was urgent and completely solvable, but it became a huge bone of contention among the colonos. Here’s how it evolved.

The sewer lines were installed some 30 years ago. While they met the standards at the time, they do not meet current requirements and will need to be replaced. As we have several other projects going on, the sewer line has taken a back seat–that is, until it started causing a stink–literally.

Heavy rains this year, and an accumulation of pig poop, dirt, and even trash caused the drain at the corner of the road behind me to begin overflowing into the street. Disgusting! The person who lived on the corner was understandably distressed. The topic was brought up at the last community meeting, and the issue was assigned to the newly minted Consejo de Honor y Justicia.

The Consejo de Honor y Justicia’s role is to provide mediation between colonos, taking some of the workload from the mesa directiva. Therefore, the job was to assess the severity of the sewer issue, talk to those affected, and endeavor to come up with a satisfactory solution. The mesa directiva could then take the plan and implement it.

Well, they didn’t do that. In fact, the members of the Consejo insisted that resolving said issue was outside of their purview. And thus, the sewer situation became a stand-off.

Commentary about the sewer was polarized. Some said that it was the responsibility of the person who was putting the pig poop in the drain to pay for it to be fixed. Others asserted that each property owner could do exactly as they pleased and no one could hold them accountable.

There were only two possible culprits when it came to pig poop. One emphatically denied using the sewer to discard their animals’ excrement. The other said that the person who lived on the corner was being “delicate” which makes me suspect that the insulter might know a bit more than she was admitting about the situation.

Then the comments became more intense, with blame being directed at the Mesa Directiva and specifically Super Prez for the poor state of affairs found in La Yacata. At that point, I decided to step in and clarify some of the information being bandied about. I wrote a historical account of sorts, going back 30 years, about the different issues with the utilities in La Yacata, and posted it to the community WhatsApp group.

The discharge point was nearly completely blocked.

Without blaming anyone specifically, I reminded everyone that as a community, each colono’s actions affected their neighbors, and situations such as the sewer line should be resolved without name-calling. I also reminded everyone that it is NOT acceptable to dispose of animal feces in the sewer. The sewer is basic and old, and pig poop will stop it up. Things settled down a bit, and the suspected pig shoveling culprit even apologized for her statements.

Finally, Super Prez stepped in, as the situation could not wait until the next community meeting, and had his workers make a start at unclogging the drain.

The sewer will need to be replaced, and it’s on our long list of things to be addressed, although we hope that clearing it out a bit will extend its life just a little longer while we get the current projects sorted out. I’m sure this Sunday’s community meeting will be full of drama as always, but at least the smell has dissipated a bit.

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Interested in that historical I provided to the colonos? Check out La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico. Available on Amazon!