If political infighting continues to endanger the securing of funds to build the 2011 Pan American Games athletes’ village, Guadalajara could lose the right to host the continental sporting event, according to Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez.
Guadalajara city councilors left the future of the village up in the air after rejecting a motion to take out a one-billion-peso credit line to build the village in a rundown area of downtown Guadalajara.
Less than 60 days remain until the proposed construction start date.
Gonzalez recently said there was “no possibility” the games would be taking place outside Jalisco, but has since changed his tune and launched a stinging attack on the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
“It appears some political actors haven’t understood that the Pan American Games aren’t for any party, but for the city,” the governor said. “After 15 years of PAN (National Action Party) leadership working very hard to win the games, some members of the PRI now appear determined that Guadalajara loses them.”
“Everything is in place to start work (on the village) in October. I don’t know if stopping the games was part of their campaign agenda. If PRI councilors don’t approve the loan, there will be no athletes’ village and therefore no Pan American Games. It’s that simple.”
Gonzalez stresses that a significant proportion of the cost of the village will be recouped when it is converted into apartments and office space and sold off after the games.
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