Our Man in Antigua

ok…Fuego! 9am, the park and kablooie!….having been here for only 4 or 5 years, this was the largest eruption I’ve seen(and that suits me just fine…anything bigger and it’s time to bend over/kiss the ass goodbye..) it musta been scary/spectacular closer…like the village of Rodeo or La ReUnion..quick! send out a call for more virgins to sacrifice!….whoops…that’s right: ain’t got any…volunteers? semi/demi-virgins? you know, like we only went ‘that far’…or as the old Tubes song went, ‘Don’t touch me there’..

alas…the political scene in Antigua has morphed/changed…early this morning, so I’m told, the cops came for The Mayor, his wife and daughter…handcuffs…did they stack ’em in the green-painted plywood rolling jail on wheels, the one with the little cut out windows/bars at the top? ooh…seriously embarrassing photos, sitting on the floor in handcuffs. If you’ve ever been in jail(I have)know that long holiday weekends are when the wheels of justice don’t turn..the judges are at the beach, the attorneys are in the strip clubs and the cops don’t give a shit…even, assuming (and I don’t know)that bail could/would be/might be granted, the Alcalde won’t be leading the parade on Saturday.

I confess to being amazed by this. This is Latin America, where bribery and corruption are part of the landscape, no? A sitting mayor, re/elected, gets indicted..ok..but then gets drummed outa the party, loses his immunity and then gets jailed?  I can only assume that he offended(pissed off)some serious people in Antigua…it’s been said that Guatemala is run by 17/23 families…take a number..whew…there are at least two mega-power families in town, that I know of…right(as if I know shit)the message is that someone pulled the chain and Da Mayor is in for a very long weekend (at best) and some serious repercussions/charges/changes down the line…ok, fine..he skimmed 26 million quetzals…give or take 3 million bucks..my calculator gagged again..if he’d been a lawyer or CPA he mighta been smarter..he’s  a docter, an M.D…though at this point he’s starting to look like a proctologist. 

at any rate, the efforts to ‘clean up’ Antigua-stan are progressing, from the top down…is there a Vice Mayor? who does the duties, like leading the parade? who kisses the beauty queens? can i volunteer? I know vice when i see it, trust me…aside from all this, the town was quiet tonight…’had a cucumber based margarita at Sobremesa(not bad) and a short stroll…politics…makes for ‘strange bedfellows’…does the prison have a VIP section? will Adolfo have to bunk with narcos/maras/ex-generals? my mind reels…happy Independence Day!