VIVA VINO HAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED

A Letter From Tom y Norma :

                        We want to thank all of our customers and friends who supported us over the years so it is with regret we temporarily close VIVA VINO.  As many of you may already know we temporarily closed VIVA VINO to return to San Antonio to care for my 81 year-old mother who is dying.  She was placed in Home Hospice in May 2010. Both Norma and I are currently living with my mother to provide her with 24/7 care. Our email contact remains the same:  tomas@vivavino.com.mx

                    Our initial plans were to return to Manzanillo and re-open VIVA VINO after my Mom died. However as Norma and I watch the escalation of  violence in Mexico we both have come to question our decision to return to Manzanillo and re-open VIVA VINO. The political and judicial infrastructure of Mexico is under daily and sustained assault and pressure by criminal gangs and drug cartels. It has also been argued by some, including Norma and I, that Mexico was nearing the status of a failed state. A failed state is one in which the central government has lost control over significant areas of the country and the state is unable to function. However, in revisiting this issue, it is now clear to us that interrupting the flow of drugs to the United States is not in the best interest of the Mexican political and economic elite.  As such, the Mexican state has accommodated itself to the situation. Rather than failing, it has developed strategies designed both to ride out the storm and to maximize the benefits of that storm.

                Moreover, Mexico has deep historic grievances toward the United States dating back to the Mexican-American War. These have been exacerbated by U.S. immigration policy that the Mexicans see both as insulting and as a threat to their policy of exporting surplus labor north. There is thus no desire to solve the American "drug" problem. Certainly, there are individuals in the Mexican government who wish to stop the smuggling and the inflow of billions of dollars. They will try. But they will not succeed, as too much is at stake. One must ignore public statements and earnest private assurances and instead observe the facts on the ground to understand what's really going on.

                Mexico is at a crossroads. And how this internal conflict turns out will have a major impact on whether or not Norma and I return to Manzanillo to live and work. 

Thomas Wakely