Mesoamérica Foundation

How could this have happened?

How could Brazos Abiertos, for four years, have misled people into thinking they were a legitimate charity, authorized by Mexican authorities to raise funds, and working in Mexico in full compliance of Mexican laws governing charitable organizations?

It is clear now that there was something very amiss with Brazos Abiertos.  They never were able to give out tax deductible receipts that complied with Hacienda (Mexico’s IRS) regulations.  They never were recognized as being a bona fide nonprofit by the S.A.T. (Servicio de Administracion Tributaria).  They never had the building that reportedly acquired in 2007 in their name – three years go by and the papelitos are not in order?  There were never any real services offered or provided – just ask HIV positive American expats who wanted to offer their years of experience as counselors, or ask the Mexican support groups that grew exasperated that nothing tangible was ever offered.  Ask Vince Gricus or Jose Maldonado, just two people who are on record as pointing out that the Brazos Abiertos Emperor has no clothes.

The only thing Brazos Abiertos excelled at was – you guessed it – organizing events to raise more money for their make-believe clinic and their make-believe services.

Yes, it is true they did bring several dozen well-intentioned and naïve high school students whom they bussed to pueblitos where in their best High School Spanish tried to explain safer sex practices to townspeople who were more conversant in Maya than Spanish.

But it cannot be denied that Brazos Abiertos enjoyed credibility because credibility was conferred by credible organizations. 

That brings us to Yucatan Today and YucatanLiving.com and the Merida English Language Library (MELL).

It’s one thing to deceive some expat who’s not familiar with Mexican law, but do Yucatan Today, YucatanLiving.com and MELL share any responsibility for the vast swindle that has apparently unfolded in Merida?

September 2010 - Padlocked, no hours of operation, virtually abandoned. YUCATAN TODAY claims that this has been operational since March 2010.

Each organization has to be held accountable, and the first one is Yucatan Today.  As recently as this spring, Yucatan Today Editor Juanita Stein published a glowing interview with Dr. Carlos Cabrera about Brazos Abiertos.

In the article, titled, “Face to Face with Dr. Carlos Cabrera,” Juanita Stein wrote: “Carlos was invited to represent Brazos’ sister organization, Fundación BAI A.C., a Mexican corporation with non-profit status.”

Really?

Fundación BAI A.C., a Mexican corporation with non-profit status?  According to whom?

Not according to the Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico, or SHCP, which is the Mexican IRS.  Their records, which are open to the public, and accessible to any certified public accountant via the Internet lists neither “Brazos Abietos, A.C.” nor “Fundación BAI, A.C.” as LEGITIMATE nonprofit organizations authorized to solicit donations from the public.  In legal terms, Fundación BAI, A.C. is a legal fiction.

Why is Yucatan Today lying to readers?

Later on in the story, Juanita Stein reports: “Much of the work is centered around lifting the stigma associated with the disease. Their current big project, which will have facilities for both fields of focus, is the HIV Education and Prevention Center, on Calle 72 in Centro. The two-storey building’s second floor just opened on March 7, where its administration offices are located. The ground floor will contain examination rooms, social workers, a dentist, psychologist, nurses, and eventually more physicians.”

Really?

According to Jose Maldonado, who is the director of Red de Personas Afectadas de VIH, a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS that is eight years old and serves more than 200 people, Brazos is a phantom organization.  “I know of absolutely no one in Merida who has ever received any HIV/AIDS counseling from Brazos Abiertos.  Their programs are non-existent.  They may tell people they provide services in order to solicit donations from people who are not informed, but it is not true that they provide any services to the HIV/AIDS community in Merida.  Brazos Abiertos has no HIV support groups, counselors, psychologists or meetings for people living with HIV or AIDS.  None.  Brazos Abiertos is a false organization.”

Today, six months after Juanita Stein announced the “opening” of the “HIV Education and Prevention Center,” it remains a virtually abandoned building, with so much garbage piling up that Mario Vasquez, a neighbor, has to call City Hall to come take away the unsightly mess in front (see photograph taken September 2010).

Why is Yucatan Today lying to readers?

To compound Yucatan Today’s sins against the people of Merida, it continues its deception in private communications.  When a former donor, who asked to be identified as Mark S., an American living in Miami with a vacation home in Merida, protested that tax status of Brazos Abiertos, this is Yucatan Today replied in an email:

Dear Mark S,
 
As I explained in my previous e-mail after doing my research on the two organizations’ current status in Mexico: 
 
"Each organization is authorized by the respective taxing authority to solicit donations.  Persons making tax deductible donations to Brazos Abiertos, Inc. receive a letter from the organization confirming receipt of the donation.  This letter can be used for tax deduction purposes on tax returns filed in the United States. Fundación BAI A.C. issues receipts also, but currently its receipts are not tax deductible in Mexico as is the case with many other Asociaciones Civiles.  Our research also found that Fundación BAI A.C. annually reports its tax declarations and is in good standing with SAT." 
  
After doing further research, I found that Fundación BAI A.C. has and can issue receipts that have its RFC and tax information on it, as well as the address of their offices.  This receipt would also include the details of the donation and signature of the legal representative. However, this is a non tax deductible receipt. Thus, any donor who has made a donation to Fundación BAI A.C., cannot use those receipts to deduct the amount of their donation from their taxes filed with SAT in Mexico.  
 
…

We at Yucatan Today have done everything possible to conduct research regarding your inquiry.  I hope this information has been of use to you.    

Regards 
Yucatan Today

But this is a lie.  When Juanita Stein says that “after research” she “found that Fundacion BAI, A.C. has and can issue receipts,” this is false: Hacienda does not recognize Fundacion BAI, A.C. as a duly incorporated nonprofit organization in Mexico and it does not appear on the S.A.T. list of authorizied nonprofits.  Why is Juanita Stein lying?

And the deceptions continue.  When a writer inquired about the conflict of interest of Jose Solis and John Truax operating a guesthouse out of the address listed as the place of actual business for Brazos Abiertos, Juanita Stein replied:

Villa Azul is the private home of Jose A. Solis Jr. and John Truax and is not a hotel or for rent.  Messrs. Solis and Truax sold their bed and breakfast more than two years ago and are no longer in the hotel or bed and breakfast business.

But this is a lie.  Villa Azul, until last month, was listed on Purple Roofs as a vacation rental, and it had a website of its own (www.villaazulmerida.com).  This is how the house was described: “Private Pool, Internet Access, Beach, Daily Maid Service, Home Exchange, Full Kitchen, Steam Room.”  It is still listed on some sites as a vacation rental: http://merida.olx.com.mx/2-bedrooms-villa-rental-in-merida-yct-iid-97404112

It is clear that Juanita Stein is colluding with the deception of the public.  But why?

Why would Yucatan Today lie to its readers, and then send out deceptive emails to the public?

Is Juanita Stein just an incompetent journalist who doesn’t know how to exercise due diligence and verify facts before she publishes them?  Was she paid off and has a financial interest in deceiving the public?  Is there another explanation?

Neither Juanita Stein nor Judy Abbott answered requests to comment on their policy of publishing rubbish that gave credibility to phantom organizations unlawfully soliciting donations from the public in open violation of the rules and regulations and laws governing charitable organizations in Mexico.

The public, which has been deceived by Yucatan Today, has a right to an explanation. 

Until it explains itself, Yucatan Today no longer has any credibility with the people of Merida, and its readership around the world.