Mesoamérica Foundation

The wonderful thing about Merida is that it welcomes everyone, and affords everyone a second chance.  Most immigrants who settle here turn out to perfectly legitimate folks  without “baggage” of a dubious sort.  A few, however, who have led undistinguished lives with few accomplishments in their countries of origin, decide to reinvent themselves here in ways which are less than commendable. 

Thus when James and Ellen Fields, in late middle age, frustrated and failed journalists, decided to reinvent themselves, Merida offered them the opportunity to do so.  YucatanLiving.com held the promise of a new beginning, but old habits die hard. In no time, the fact that anyone can self-publish online creates a platform for the practices that had led to professional failure in the United States to become self-evident in Mexico.

Soon, James and Ellen Fields developed a financial interest in advancing the deception that “Brazos Abiertos” was authorized in Mexico to solicit donations from the public.  Beyond that,  they  began to engage in feuds, continuously and incessantly, like malcontents who cannot seem to get along with anyone.

Another year, another feud

Shortly after arriving in Merida, the Fields set out to build their dream home, contracting the services of Keith Heitke and David Sterling.  In short order, announcing that they would not have been surprised if Mexicans had tried to “cheat” them, they then complained that Heitke and Sterling had set about “to take advantage of them.”  This resulted in a long, public feud in which recriminations were posted online, with the intent to “destroy” Heitke and Sterling’s design and remodeling business as “pay back” – forgetting that Heitke’s and Sterling’s design firm, Worldstudio International, is a successful enterprise in New York, with a significant international clientele. 

The following year, after disagreements with Judy Abbott of “Yucatan Today,” one of their most important Internet clients at that time, there was another public falling out, one in which Ellen Fields and James Fields decided to “show her” – by launching YucatanLiving.com.  Yes, YucatanLiving.com was started to compete with – and drive “Yucatan Today” out of business. 

Recently,  Reed Robertson, using the Freedom of Information Act, secured copies of Brazos Abiertos, Inc. (the Texas entity) IRS tax returns for 2007 and 2008,  returns which confirmed thousands of dollars in payments from Brazos to the Fields’ internet company.  Casa Catherwood then provided copies of these tax returns to Mexican tax authorities at their request, as part of a criminal investigation into Brazos Abiertos for tax fraud and money laundering in Mexico. At this point, Ellen and James Fields turned on Louis Nevaer, owner of Casa Catherwood.

But Keith Heitke and David Sterling will continue their design and remodeling business until they see fit to call it quits.  And “Yucatan Today” is doing very well, despite efforts by Ellen Fields and James Fields to “destroy” it.  And Casa Catherwood will long be around after what remains of Brazos Abiertos and of YucatanLiving.com has moved on. 

There is also no doubt that now that Gerardo Martinez has disclosed that he received “an explicit threat” from the Fields in an email, and that he reported that the Fields warned him that they would “hack” into his blog if he didn’t remove material critical of Brazos Abiertos they found unacceptable, he must also be on their “enemies” list.

Number 1: Lack of Professional Ethics

In authentic, credible journalism a reporter’s potential conflict of interest has to be disclosed at the onset.  Whenever Brian Williams on NBC News, for instance, reports on General Electric, he mentions that GE is the parent company of both NBC News and MSNBC.  That disclosure informs viewers that NBC News may not necessarily be unbiased in its reporting of its parent company, GE.

When YucatanLiving.com stated that Brazos Abiertos was a “legitimate” nonprofit, this was not only a lie – we now know that neither Brazos Abiertos, A.C. nor Fundacion BAI, A.C. ever existed as bona fide charities recognized by the Mexican government – but James and Ellen Fields failed to follow ethical standards of journalism by not disclosing their financial interests in Brazos Abiertos.

Number 2: Nonprofit Profiteering

YucatanLiving.com is a nonprofit profiteer.  James and Ellen Fields have collected thousands upon thousands of dollars in payments from Brazos Abiertos.  According to the Brazos Abiertos, Inc. tax returns for 2008 filed with the IRS, Brazos Abiertos paid Yucatan Living $3,922 USD  for “internet services.” 

Apart from the moral questions surrounding the profiteering from a presumed AIDS charity, one has to question the lack of ethics in not disclosing to readers the conflict of interest.

But this is how Ellen and James Fields operate.  Indeed, consider that John Truax and Jose Solis, both vice presidents of Brazos Abiertos, Inc. of Houston, Texas paid Mr. and Mrs. Fields an undisclosed sum to host three other sites they own: Villaazulmerida.com, Casadelsolmerida.com and Gaylifeinmerida.com. 

Villaazulmerida.com, which promotes a clandestine guesthouse catering to older foreign men interested in “May/December” romances with young Yucatecan men, has been removed from the Internet, and that residence is reportedly for sale.  Gaylifeinmerida.com, which advanced the theory of a bisexual Maya “genetic” pool as being one contributing factor for the sexual promiscuity among local Yucatecan men, has been taken down.  Casadelsolmerida.com, which promoted the B&B owned by Truax and Solis reportedly has recently sold its building.

According to IRS Tax Returns, in 2008 Brazos Abiertos, Inc. paid $3,922.00 for Internet services, an extraordinary amount.  If you would like to see the 2008 Tax Returns for Brazos Abiertos, Inc., you can contact Vince Gricus by clicking on the image to the right and sending him an email.

Number 3: Distorting the facts to achieve their ends

James Fields is on record stating that “Brazos distorts the facts … to motivate potential donors.”  However, distorting the facts is usually called deception, and it is frowned upon by credible journalists engaged in legitimate journalism.

                But history is full of examples of individuals who use deception, distort the facts, and lie to achieve their goals.  The articles and editorials in YucatanLiving.com about Brazos Abiertos and in support of Brazos Abiertos fail to disclose the significant financial interest that Ellen and James Fields have in the donations made to that phantom organization which operated in Mérida in violation of Mexican law.

Number 4: Aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise

The financial interest of Ellen and James Fields in lying to readers by telling them that Brazos Abiertos in Mexico was “legitimate” is self-evident. 

But in the process, Ellen and James Fields are guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise – Brazos Abiertos’ illicit fundraising activities in Mexico. 

Aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise is unlawful for everyone in Mexico, but especially for foreigners, since aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise violates the terms under which their FM2 and FM3 visas are granted.

Number 5: Left-Wing Radicals

To complicate matters, few in Merida know that Ellen and James Fields are left-wing radicals, who have openly supported the Zapatistas, an armed insurgency against the legitimate government of Mexico, and which the government of Mexico has linked to terrorist acts. 

Here, in her own words, published in the left-wing online magazine NARCO NEWS, Ellen Fields recounts with delight her and her husband’s active role in aiding and abetting other off mainstream journalists who are terrorist sympathizers and Zapatista insurgency supporters:

“We offered them our guest room, our office to work in, and our car (with us as drivers) to ferry them around the Yucatan. As it happened, we also loaned them some of our video and computer equipment, helped them find hotel rooms with some of our clients, and threw in a few dinners and breakfasts for good measure. So this year we donated more than we ever have in the past to the cause of alternative media. And we’re just getting warmed up.

Why?

Because more than ever, what they are doing matters. Never before in our lives have we been so discouraged by the state of journalism and the quality of the news that we see and read from traditional sources. Never before have governments been so cavalier with their power. Never before have multinational corporations so easily trampled on more cultures, ecosystems and basic human dignity. And never before has Subcomandante Marcos come out of the jungle in Chiapas to bring the message of this struggle to every corner of Mexico.”

Throughout the four, long  years that Ellen and James Fields have been in Merida, their unwavering support for the terrorist Zapatista insurgency and their sympathizers has continued.  The following excerpt of praise for their contributions to the left-wing cause is written by Al Giordano, who is the editor of the self-published NarcoNews, an online magazine that champions left wing causes.  This is how he describes the Fields’ contributions in March 2010:

“Key to our stay in Mérida (and not for the first time) were our good friends (and j-school graduates) Jim and Ellen Fields of the Yucatan Living website,” Al Giordano, an American Communist sympathizer meddling in Mexico’s internal affairs, reported on NarcoNews in March 2010.   “Jim and Ellen additionally hosted a tremendous School fiesta at their Mérida home with exquisite catering by Janice Fraser, her assistant Jennifer Hames, bartender Enrique, and servers Arvi Perez and Ana Toxina. And the charismatic Lane Gallagher (best massage therapist on the peninsula, bar none) joined us there as well as coming with Ellen as invited guests to our graduation dinner the following week in Quintana Roo.  Ellen’s assistant Beatriz Echeverria conspired in a surprise for all of us (especially me) when they produced this poster in the traditional art style of bullfight and lucha libre promotions. I had never seen it until I walked into the Fields’ party, and there it was on an easel. (Copies were gifted to all the students and professors.) It was a night of great abundance and we thank Ellen and Jim profusely for their generosity and the spirit they bring to the project.”

To read the entire account of this Radical Leftist Love-Fest of these foreigners and their Malinche co-conspirators meddling in Mexico’s internal and political affairs, click on the image to the right:

In summary:

What is clear, however, is that with James Fields and Ellen Fields one is dealing with two left-wing radicals who:

·         Have no regard for the basic ethical standards of journalism, which is the disclosure of conflicts of interests between their reporting and their finances

·         Are profiteers, earning thousands of dollars from entities about which they claim to provide “objective” reporting

·         Have no qualms about “distorting” the facts to achieve their goals, which most people call deception, which is why they characterize “legitimate” what the Government of Mexico calls a phantom organization that is unlawfully soliciting donations from the public in open violation of the rules and regulations and laws governing charitable organizations in Mexico

·         Profit from at least three other websites owned by John Truax and Jose Solis,  and also benefitting by encouraging the unsuspecting public to make donations to Brazos Abiertos, which has been shown to be nothing but a fraudulent charity, a criminal enterprise

·         As radical leftists, actively give financial, material and moral support to the Zapatistas, a terrorist organization that is engaged in an armed insurrection against the Government of Mexico, making every organization that gives one peso to YucatanLiving.com or Eclectec, S.A. de C.V., potentially complicit in supporting the terrorist Zapatistas and the Zapatistas’ armed insurgency against the Government of Mexico

For the time being, Ellen Fields and James Fields are “Working Gringos” who are “Working It” – to the detriment of our White City of Merida.

NOTE: Neither Jim Fields nor Ellen Fields answered questions whether they provided their services to Brazos Abiertos on a pro bono basis, or for financial profit.  The Fields did not comment on their efforts to aid and abet Brazos Abiertos’ unlawfully soliciting donations from the public in open violation of the rules and regulations and laws governing charitable organizations in Mexico, which constitutes a criminal enterprise.

Ellen Fields y James Fields, y la insurgencia Zapatista:  Pocos yucatecos reconocen que Ellen Fields y James Fields apoyan al grupo terrorista, los Zapatistas y la insurgencia de los Zapatistas contra el Gobierno Mexicano. 

En sus propias palabras, Ellen Fields:

Les ofrecimos nuestro cuarto de invitados, nuestra oficina para trabajar y nuestro auto (con nosotros como conductores) para llevarlos por Yucatán. Como ocurrió, también les prestamos algún equipo de video y computadoras, los ayudamos a encontrar cuartos de hotel con algunos de nuestros clientes y nos pusimos con algunas cenas y desayunos en buena medida. Así que este año donamos más que nunca en el pasado a la causa de los medios alternativos. Y apenas comenzamos.

¿Por qué?

Porque más que nunca lo que hacen importa. Nunca antes en nuestras vidas hemos estado tan desalentados por el estado del periodismo y por la calidad de las noticias que vemos y leemos de fuentes tradicionales. Nunca antes los gobiernos han sido tan arrogantes con su poder. Nunca antes las transnacionales han pisoteado tan fácilmente tantas culturas, ecosistemas y la dignidad humana fundamental. Y nunca antes ha salido el Subcomandante Marcos de la selva en Chiapas para llevar el mensaje de su lucha a cada rincón de México.

Lea el artículo completo, haciendo clic en la imagen a la derecha: