Cozumel News in English Vol 19

Each week we select articles from local newspapers that amuse or interest us and then translate them into English. We wish to stress that these translations are literal --English versions of exactly what was originally written in Spanish by reporters for Por Esto, Diario de Quintana Roo, Novedades and El Seminario. It should also be mentioned that we cannot always verify the facts in the stories we publish here. We leave that job to the newspaper that originally published the article. We appreciate hearing from our readers so please feel free to E-Mail US your questions, suggestions and comments. You may also wish to consider starting a discussion on any topic below that interests you by posting on the Living on Cozumel Forum.

Note: These articles are a great deal of work to find and translate. They are under copyright. But we all know what a temptation it is to want to share interesting info all over the internet. We don't mind you copying short snippets. But .....

Please note we have temporarily lost our expert local translator and in the interim, the editors are soldier through with the help of some pricey translation software and the very kind assistance of Israel Sanchez, a professional translator who has volunteered to help us with the more difficult passages. (Thanks, Izzy!)

During most of the year Cozumeleño fisherman are able to supply sufficient fish for local consumption. However, with the greatly increased demand for fish during Lent, merchants have also begun importing from Progreso and Dzilam Bravo.

The cost of the imported fish varies but it is cheaper than red meat like goat kid and rounds of beef. Grouper runs 50-55 pesos/kilo, porgey between 50 and 60. The chacchi is the most economical at around 35 pesos/kilo. Frozen filets are 110 pesos/kilo and dogfish 50 pesos/kilo.

There will be a strong push to avoid acts that distrub the peace and control vehicular traffic and the sale of drugs in the waterfront area during carnival according to José Luis Pérez , Operating Public Assistant of Security who plans to spend a great deal of time on the waterfront himself overseeing the vigilance.

He emphasized that in order to accomplish this task they would need the cooperation of the citizenry to clear the streets of vehicles. Those vechicle owners not cooperating will have their vehicles removd to the "big corral."

There will be security guards on each corner of Melgar downtown who will be in charge of the individual streets adjacent to the waterfront.

As to the sale of alcohol which takes place year after year during this week, the retired Miltary reservist said this is a fact of life but the security force will be on hand to watch that people that become drunk do not disturb the peace with quarrels.

Drug sales is an irrefutable fact these days and is even commited on the street where the mayor of the island has his residence. But Senor Perez indicated that his men would be on the alert "as much as it lies within my power."

Children' participation in the yearly costume contest is one of the cherished and appreciated events of the carnival period and this year's children were no exception taking their turns to the rhythm of salsa dancing.

The competition which took place at Moby Dick's was judged by experts in spectacle and recognized dancers. They looked not just for the quality of the costume but for originality, joy and enthusiasm of presentation as well.

Individual winners were the Little Pearl of the Marines who tied with The Little Chinese. Other winners included Prince Watermelon and The Baby Dorada (Golden Baby.). Among the older children category winners were first place-takers La Rumberita and The Flower.

NOTE: School children will have a school holiday for Monday and Tuesday of Carnival.

The office of Profeco in Cozumel announced that independent observers will be paying surprise visits to merchants to verify that the establishments that utilize scales are maintaining them accurately.

Merchants found lacking can be fined as much as 12,000 pesos, according to Ramiro Vélez Marino, head of the Cozumel Profeco office.

"We are looking for cases where the consumer is actually receiving less than the 800 grams listed on a scale -- and is paying for something they're not getting."

The minimum fine for perpetrators will be 7 thousand pesos. But the amount to be paid will depend on the number of scales the merchant has in their shop.

Merchants have until February 23 to bring their scales into the Profeco office for testing and to correct any inaccuracy problems found during this visit after which they will be given a seal of approval. After this date, however, surprise visits will be made to random establishments. Merchants still found with inaccurate scales will face serious fines.

Senor Vélez Marino noted that when a similar campaign was launched at this time last year, the response from tradespeople voluntarily bringing in their scales to be tested was encouragingly high.

Gustavo Ortega Joaquín, Cozumel's new mayor, comes from a family with long time political and business ties on the island.
He was born in Mérida the September 29, 1966, the second of four sons of the lawyer Joaquín Alcérreca George Edward Ortega His grandfather is the businessman Nassín Joaquín Ibarra.

Ortega attended primary school and secondary school in the Colegio Montejo and pre-university studies the University of Montejo, in Mérida. He took a degree in 1989 in law and business administration from the Latin American University in D.F. and has also studied on the graduate level at Harvard University.

Ortega Joaquín came to work in the hotel and commercial sector of the family business on Cozumel in 1989. One of their businesses is the very popular beach club Mister Sanchos.

Gustavo promises there will be drastic improvements seen during his first 100 days in office. For one thing part of his cabinent will be chosen from professional organizations on the island. There will also, he states, be a policy of more open and frequent dialogue with the members of the town council because these people are more in touch with the serious local problems that need to be addressed.

Runner-up candidate Addie Joquin Coldwell says that she is happy to have had the honor of being the first woman to compete in a Mayoral election on Cozumel. But "I feel a lot of grief that Quintana Roo has been put up for auction so often by the highest bidder," and maintained that she would like to see the huge amounts of money pouring into Q. Roo make their way down to the Mayan communities in both urban and rural parts of the region.

Cozumel News Vol 16

The Cozumel News in English