Community members speak out

Punta Banda lies at the southern tip of Ensenada Bay.

Tiger Woods and Texas billionaire Red McCombs have plans to turn a pristine oceanfront near Ensenada into a luxury tourist destination. The exclusive resort will include homes expected to fetch between $3-10 million.

More than 2,000 community members and others have signed a petition asking Tiger Woods to reconsider.  The Mexican government gave the project a thumbs-up in May and the area has already been fenced off.

“We fear that if this project moves forward, we will lose part of our history and part of our land. Punta Banda would be wounded to death,” said Carlos Lazcano, a local community member.

The Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History approved the project and says there is nothing left to be discovered.  Anthropologist Mike Wilken, who lives in Ensenada and teaches at San Diego State University, disagrees.  In a KGTV report from San Diego, Wilken says the government didn’t look hard enough.  Preservation laws are stronger in the U.S.  but those protections are not in place in Mexico.

ELAW partners in Baja California are working with local community leaders, scientists and residents to ensure that any plans for Punta Banda comply with Mexican law and include local voices in decisions being made about Mexico’s cultural heritage.

It’s a David and Goliath battle, but ELAW partners and local residents are committed to protecting this land for future generations and ensuring that any development truly benefits the local community.