Acapulco Takes Tianguis Robbery to Supreme Court

(Acapulco, ElSur 4 June) On May 31, the municipal government of Acapulco presented a constitutional claim against the federal government of Mexico in the nation’s Supreme Court of Justice. By constitutional provision, the Supreme Court is the forum of first (and last) resort in such matters. The essence of the complaint is that a decree by ex-president Miguel de la Mardrid Hurtado establishes Acapulco as the permanent headquarters of the Tianguis Turístico, and therefore, according to the mayor, the “robbery committed by Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara” was without legal authority.

On Friday, Justice Olga Sánchez Cordero formally accepted the matter, and ordered the temporary suspension of any and all activities related to the Tianguis Turístico, pending a more thorough investigation and the opportunity to hear from the parties. According to the experts, the provisional order is routine, designed to protect the jurisdiction of the court and the status quo ante. Within a month’s time the tribunal is expected to make the protective order permanent, pending a final outcome on all the issues, or to dissolve it, even while the case goes forward. The interim decision will be based partly on the likelihood of injury or irreparable harm if the federal government is allowed to proceed and the likelihood that Acapulco will ultimately prevail, requiring the cancellation of activities taken in the meantime.

Acapulco’s mayor, Manuel Añorve Baños, made a press statement on Saturday, clarifying the nature of the claim: The presidential decree was implemented in 1975 by Miguel Alemán Velazco, then president of the Executive Committee for Tourism, which is the Tourism Department today. “By presuming to derogate a presidential decree by a mere request for bids, Secretary Gloria Guevara violated articles 5, 14, 16, 39, 40, 41, 115, 116 and 123 of the Mexican Constitution,” he said. The Supreme Court’s temporary suspension of the federal government’s activities to rob Acapulco of the Tianguis was greeted with much satisfaction by the mayor and local business people, who commented, “The Court has returned dignity to Acapulco.”