FORUMS & LETTERS

Editor,

I found the article written by Sandy Baum in your September 5 issue very interesting, as it brings new meaning to the expression “chutzpah” (nerve, gall, supreme self-confidence). Sandy, one of the pilots who enjoys flying over San Miguel, is writing in support of his fellow pilot Rusty Henson. The handful of pilots in San Miguel is a cozy community and, of course, they support each other.

I commend Henson’s altruistic program to take children from poor families for rides in his plane. However, the main issue is not the children, but his intention to bring commercial aircraft operations to San Miguel for the benefit of the very few. Using the expression made famous last week, “A pig with lipstick is still a pig,” let us look at the real issues.

Benefits: The flight school is a commercial venture, for the sole and only purpose of making money. All the noise, pollution and safety issues will not bring benefits to San Miguel but to “Captain” Rusty Henson. Baum and Henson fail to mention the high costs of real flying lessons, which include plane rental, fuel, insurance and flight instructor fees. The flight school is not going to benefit poor children. The target market for this venture is wealthy people who want to learn to fly with San Miguel as a background.

Noise: The noise will have to be endured by the other 99.999 percent of the population who remain on the ground. Of course, just as smokers do not notice the smoke they generate, pilots do not notice the noise they make, so Henson, Baum and the student pilots will be quite happy to circle around our homes.

Safety: After an article on this same subject was printed in Atención a few months ago, it was brought to my attention that there is already one accident allegedly caused by a reckless pilot in the San Miguel area. Apparently, low-flying aircraft caused a horse to panic and the little boy riding it ended up in a hospital. Of course, the pilot probably did not notice, just as they do not notice the disruption they cause when they enjoy their exclusive views of the city from directly above our homes.

Do we really want student pilots to learn to fly over our homes? Do we want noisy aircraft to become part of the everyday sounds of San Miguel? I still insist that pilots using the San Miguel airport should agree on flight paths that avoid populated areas, and that all commercial enterprises, including Henson’s flight school, should be sent to airports better equipped and regulated for such operations in nearby Celaya, Querétaro and León. People who can afford flying lessons can also afford to drive to Celaya, where there is already a flight school in operation with all the proper permits and credentials. This way San Miguel keeps its high quality of life without the noise of airplanes and helicopters flying overhead. Furthermore, increased safety also will benefit the rich “eagles” who can afford to fly and the people on the ground who can only watch.

Rodrigo Antonio Treviño Lozano

Editor,

Regarding flying above San Miguel de Allende: Our youngsters certainly would like to learn how to fly a plane and providing that opportunity might be of interest to many young Mexicans and others. However, there is a brand-new airport which is hardly used at all in Querétaro and the airport in León also is available. Both airports are just a 1.5-hour drive. Our hospitals here have helicopter facilities. May I suggest to try to save el pueblo mágico from having planes flying above the city, isn’t that the last thing San Miguel needs?

Herbert R. Bolz

Editor,

Thank you for the good coverage Atención provides San Miguel consistently. Regarding the Sanmiguelada, many natives of the town, including those aficionados who founded the Pamplona-style event, were already opposed to holding it any longer due to what it had become.

My father, Tom Andre, is the current bullfights senior judge, as is my brother. We understand bullfights well enough, but Sanmiguelada is not a real tradición taurina any longer.

We were very vocal on the radio and in the international coverage supporting the ban, with letters written from outside sources working to end cruelty to animals as entertainment anywhere in the world.

Queen Sofia of Spain herself has dropped advocacy of bullfighting. It is against the international guidelines of the Red Cross to “engage in risky behavior and waste resources.” Physicians in San Miguel had to save the life of an alcohol-poisoned young woman, unconscious and soiled after being picked up on the street while being dragged along by other revelers.

These problems are not for the police to solve. They are overloaded with the increased diversity of visitors to San Miguel, including would-be thieves looking to cash in, as has been my direct perception holding forth on Calle San Francisco.

Reasons for decreased tourism to San Miguel are glaring problems with the US and world economies, fuel prices, airline ticket prices, passport requirements for US citizens visiting Mexico, the security alert and travel advisory on Mexico issued by the US State Department for the past two years, kidnapping danger at number one in the world in Mexico, the disarray during elections in 2006 with the dispute over the results continuing to rumble in the Zócalo and upcoming elections keeping people working with their party in the US. Cheaper places in Mexico, and even Buenos Aires, are being floated as great destinations.

Not “because the Sanmiguelada was cancelled” are there financial woes! All the men insisting on the reinstatement of this event are not natives of this town, and of course have many reasons to be grateful for their ongoing popularity, regardless of the time of year.

UNESCO has issued statements against bullfights and, of course, the cruelty that is documented on the website of San Miguel Natives for Cultura Sin Crueldad is unacceptable anywhere in the world, and especially not for a place holding itself forth as a World Heritage site.

One activity that we proposed, in writing to Luis Alberto Villarreal while he was mayor, to replace this event was a great buffet gala in white tie dress or in the red paliacate look around the Jardín, using mariachis, restaurant and club showcase to pack the house like a dance floor around the Jardín, since what the people want to do is meet others. A second variant could be a Pamplona “running of the nudes,” a nonviolent, funny thing like a bikini parade. A “running of the hawgs” also could be done with motorcycles; a huge showy group that pulls through town now are talking about the idea in their Moto Mexico blogs. This could be an exciting parade with no animals involved, nor accidental medical risks like with the loose animals of what was Sanmiguelada. Since the date is around the feast of Santa Maria de las Mercedes, San Miguel could also ask Mercedes Benz to sponsor something really swanky with their cars and that buffet gala dance at the Jardín.

Marcela Andre Lopez







.