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| Puerto Vallarta |
| May, 2006 |
New Units to the Public Security Department
Provided By Ambito
The renewal of the police fleet will come to reinforce the security of each and every one of the Vallartans
 Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor dedicated 24 new units acquired for the Department of Public Security, Traffic and Fire.
The dedication ceremony, presided over by Puerto Vallarta’s First Councilor who was joined by Public Security Director Miguel Santana Estrada, Regional Police Academy Director Aleth Aldo García Gonzalez, Traffic Police First Officer Salvador Mendoza Maldonado and the head of the Municipal Patrimony Department, Mary Antoinette Beltran Mallen.
In addressing the audience, the mayor commended those in charge of providing security to the Vallartan families, as well as the many thousands of visitors who every year choose our destination as their vacation spot.
Likewise he exalted the value of those who with their work preserve the orderliness and the security of this destination, and added that due to it and to the purpose of providing the police with the necessary tools to carry out their duty, which is “to care for our people; we are handing over these units, which will improve this important concept.”
Gonzalez Villaseñor expressed that these units make evident the support of this administration for the important task this corps performs, making Puerto Vallarta one of the safest cities in the country, recognition affirmed by Governor Francisco Ramirez Acuña, and manifested through the delivery of these 24 new units destined to provide security to all Vallartans.
In turn, Miguel Santana Estrada, thanked the Mayor’s important support and pledged to maintain order and public safety in our city, affirmed that he and each of the personnel under his command will do their best to have Puerto Vallarta be one of the safest tourist destinations in our country.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
Cleanup Campaign on Beaches and Rivers Kicks Off
Provided By Ambito
On Monday morning, Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor marked the start of the clean up campaign on beaches and rivers of the municipality, aiming at providing visitors with a positive image of the destination.
With the participation of an important number of schools, working in coordination with the Department of Public Utilities, a comprehensive cleanup of beaches, rivers and other waterways in the municipality will be carried out, in order to have those spaces ready to receive visitors and Vallartans during the upcoming holiday season.
The campaign aims also at raising awareness on maintaining the areas clean among visitors, to ensure that the beaches and rivers will remain clean until their return.
In his speech, Mayor Gonzalez remarked on the importance of creating and maintaining environmental awareness, to make Puerto Vallarta a clean dignifying city for all who live here.
He also recognized the importance of the youth’s participation, since it contributes to improve the image and the development of Puerto Vallarta. “Thanks for being environmentally aware, for being conscious as to having clean beaches and rivers in our home, which Puerto Vallarta is” the mayor said.
At the campaign kick off were also the head of Municipal Education department, Lidia Saracco, the chief of the Administrative Unit of Semarnat, Jesús Manuel Díaz Zurita; Alma Delia Galván Rodríguez, from the Tourism Secretariat, Manuel Acosta, Operation manager at SEAPAL, and the underdelagate for the Environment, Irma Griselda Adame Gonzalez and Ana Rosa Juarez as representative of the Niños Heroes School.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
A Modest March for the Huicholes
By Peter Gray
A very unique event occurred here in Puerto Vallarta this March. For the very first time a community of Huichol Indians, specifically from the Comunidad Wixarika de San Andres Cohamiata, Mesquitic, Jalisco, banded together to travel from their remote village high in the Sierra Madre mountains, to present a Festival here in Puerto Vallarta. The long journey in itself was a challenge. During the festival I was introduced to a couple of Wixarikas, as they prefer to be called. They must have been away from home around four days. The wife was sitting on the ground nursing her new baby – just thirteen days old! Meanwhile a two year old brother was trying to play with his new sibling. To make the journey easier, three other children had been left behind. Just one clue as to the toughness of their lives and their personal resilience.
Why did they go to all this effort – bringing around sixty people with their shamans and their ceremonial gear and their handicrafts and their musical instruments and their personal effects? Two reasons. Firstly,because last year’s harvest failed, there is a desperate need to raise money to buy food for the village since it cannot be self-sufficient and feed itself this year.
Secondly, on a longer term view, the Wixarikas want the Mexicans to have a better understanding of the cultural heritage they represent. The soul of Mexico was formed in the pre-Hispanic past. The only way to come close to knowing it is to probe down deep, piercing the layers of Colonialism until you reach the bed-rock of indigenous life. The
Huichol culture has existed essentially unchanged for over five hundred years. The Spanish conquest of Mexico did not disturb these communities, isolated some seven thousand feet up in the mountains. So the people maintained their own language ( uto-aztecan), their social systems, their laws and their spiritual beliefs. The spiritual life of the Huicholes is rich almost beyond belief. as their well-known yarn paintings bear vivid witness. The spiritual world and the observance of the customs that perpetuate it from generation to generation are an everyday part of their life. The Huichols are humbly confident that their culture has much to offer the outside world. For that reason, during this festival the elders and shamans enacted ceremonies that have never been exposed to the outside world before. This was a dramatic break from their centuries’ old tradition of absolute privacy. And who knows how much longer these beliefs will live on, dependent as they are on oral tradition and a continuance of the same discipline and faith among the next generation.
Offering up these ceremonies seemed to me a heartfelt cry for better understanding and acceptance. Thus, I detected a moment of intense frustration when one of the organizers spoke before introducing a ceremony dealing with the annual transfer of powers – when new leaders are chosen to govern the community. ‘It is very strange,’ he said, ‘that foreigners seem to know more about us than the Mexicans, whose land we share.
Tomorrow they will be going home. I wonder what will be going through their minds. The location they were provided with was so hidden away at the end of Plaza Caracol that it made it very hard to attract passers-by. No signs were provided to help people find where the Festival was taking place. No visible support from the city authorities. Surely the city could have provided banners and space in the Plaza honoring these people. And let them do something to draw attention to their presence for the month. This is after all, a culture that deserves a world heritage ranking. What’s more, it is a culture that flourishes here in the State of Jalisco. In all seriousness, this was a far more significant event than the visit of Luis Miguel – with all due respect to him. But, alas, it did not get equal billing.
The private sector did not seem to be proactive either. One might have thought that all the stores that make money out of selling Huichol made or inspired articles might have put their shoulder to the wheel to draw the crowds, as a way of paying their respects.
My wife did her best to spread the word and several of our friends did go to the festival and made some purchases. In the last days, my wife and I donated some sleeping bags because they were on a ‘wish list’ we had been given. Cheo, who works for us, donated some National Geographic magazines which, interestingly enough, were also on the list.
If the Huicholes decide to come back next year, I hope our community will be better organized to make their visit a more significant and widely-appreciated event.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
Casa Magna Marriot Puerto Vallarta Resort, Venue for Medical Services Expo
Provided By Ambito
CasaMagna Marriot Puerto Vallarta Resort was the venue  for the recent Medical Services Expo organized by the American Consular Agency, to the purpose of informing residents and tourists as to the quality of medical services offered in town. Over 40 participants were invited to the event, among them hospitals, pharmacies, rehabilitation centers, plastic surgeons, dentists, medical insurance companies, which presented their services and products to over 200 Americans in attendance at the event, and talked about their equipment, facilities and bilingual personnel.
Thanks to events of this kind, the destination benefits, because it makes visitors feel safe and protected from emergencies, which in turn translates as longer stays, makes the destination more appealing to repeat visitors, and has a positive effect on the local economy.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
New Tourist Service and Information Office Opened
Provided By Ambito
On Thursday, April 7, the dedication of a new tourist service and information office, located on Parque Hidalgo, took place.
Puerto Vallarta Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor, joined by Municipal Tourist Director Luis Cerda Acuña, Councilman for Tourism Agustin Alvarez Valdivia and Regional Tourism Director Ludwig Estrada Virgen, cut the inaugural ribbon the new tourist information facility for visitors to our fair city.
 The head of the Municipal Tourist Department said that it is tourist growth is primordial to this city, as fundamental economic support of residents, who obtain their income in said ambit, a growth of the population which constitutes a stairway to positioning Puerto Vallarta as the most visited beach destination, both nationally and internationally.
In turn, the mayor said that it is thanks to the joint efforts and a pro-positive attitude of the authorities, the private sector and the citizens in general that transcendental steps are being taken in the sustainable development of the city.
“It is not on ly one more office, but the crystallization of a Vallartan longing, a requirement of modernization and the vehicle agglomeration. It is now that the population can enjoy a space of recreation with their families, the possibility to offer consultation as to the attractions of this window of Mexico to the world” Gonzalez Villaseñor said.
After the inaugural ceremony a reception was offered with wine and entrées, sponsored by hotels and restaurants in the city, as well as the support of the Tourism Board and the State Government’s Regional Tourism Department.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
Clean Balance for Vallarta after Holidays
Provided By Ambito
Municipal Public Services efficiently collects a daily 80 additional tons of garbage in the holiday season
In order to maintain sanitation in the city as well as an efficient garbage collection service, during the Easter holiday season the Department of Public Services carries out a special sanitation operation in the Port.
 Martin Vazquez Mendoza, head of the Department, said that the operation is a an extension of the campaign carried out on beaches, rivers and other watercourses by the Department, hotels and educational institutions, prior to the arrival of vacationers.
He went on to explain that to this purpose, 120 containers were placed along the different beaches, to provide the visitors with the opportunity to contribute to this important sanitation task, by properly disposing of their garbage.
On the same note, sanitation personnel in on duty every morning to pick up garbage from the beaches in the areas frequently visited by tourists, like the Malecon, where according to estimations there has been an increase in the amount of refuse collected by about 5%.
He emphasized that in regard to the tourist strip, collection has increased 10% which is a clear reflection of the season and represents 80 additional tons of garbage a day in the municipality.
Altogether, the amount of garbage collected by the sanitation department has reached the mark of 550 tons a day.
Last Monday, the cleanup campaign made it to the Cuale River, and families camping on the river banks were invited to use the garbage bins placed in the area, thus contributing to preserve the natural state of the watercourse.
In order for these actions to report a palpable benefit for everyone, participating personnel has worked extended hours, guaranteeing positive results as those obtained so far.
Water tasting at Puerto Vallarta beaches has determined they are adequate for recreational activities; “water monitoring shows it is within the safe range, we have clean beaches and healthy waters for swimmers.”
Finally, he emphasized that the operation has yielded a “clean balance” for the destination; nonetheless, cleanup actions well continue on beaches, rivers and creeks across the municipality.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
Uniforms Donated to Local Junior League Soccer Teams
Provided By Ambito
On Wednesday at 11:00 am, April 19th at the Sports Stadium, Leigh Kirmsee and her two children Joshua and Kathryn from Concord, California donated brand new soccer uniforms to kids soccer teams in Puerto Vallarta that are less privileged. Leigh is on the Board of Directors of the Mount Diablo Soccer Association, and her kids are both active in their league. On a previous visit to PV, the family was quite impressed with the quality of play locally, but was dismayed to see that many teams lacked uniforms.
 On their short three day trip to Puerto Vallarta, they brought along with them 130 soccer balls, 100 full uniforms (shirts, shorts & socks), 26 Keeper jerseys, 30 Premium uniform jerseys, 60 practice jerseys, 30 sets of shin guards and 7 coaches bags. All items are brand new and the selection of recipients was made by Ignacio (Nacho) Curiel Madero, the Director of Sports for the city of Puerto Vallarta. Selected teams are Agua Azul, Héroes de la Patria, Infonavit, Loma Bonita, Real Madrid, and Tigres.
The uniforms were presented by Demetrio Madero, an ex-Chivas star and also a past member of Mexico’s World Cup team. Madero is currently working as the head of a unique government social services program to enhance the neighborhoods and lifestyles of some of the less fortunate residents of Vallarta. Other dignitaries also attended the ceremony.
The value of the gifts is estimated at over $50,000.00 pesos and the family stated that in the near future more will be donated.
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
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