ICYMI: Aired 7/14/16 on KPBS, Investors In Donald Trump's Failed Mexico Resort Speak Out, Baja,

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Investors In Donald Trump’s Failed Mexico Resort Speak Out

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/jul/14/investors-trumps-failed-mexico-resort-speak-out/

Thursday, July 14, 2016

By Jean Guerrero
Evening Edition

By Katie Schoolov

Sylvia Villavicencio and Mike Rodriguez enjoy the view of the ocean from thei...

By Katie Schoolov

Sylvia Villavicencio and Mike Rodriguez enjoy the view of the ocean from their Tijuana condominium, April 8, 2016.

Aired 7/14/16 on KPBS Midday Edition.

Investors In Donald Trump's Failed Mexico Resort Speak Out

GUEST:

Steve Walsh, reporter, KPBS

Transcript
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Aired 7/15/16 on KPBS News.

Several years ago, about 250 people bought Tijuana oceanfront condos sold under Donald Trump’s name. They were never built. Disgruntled buyers say they were deceived by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and fear voters will experience the same disillusionment.

On her 65th birthday last year, Sylvia Villavicencio — once a Donald Trump devotee — pummeled a Mexican piñata of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Her guests poked out the eyes and tore off the legs.

“We wanted to express our feelings and vent our anger,” said her husband, Mike Rodriguez, a retired real estate builder. They live in Madera, in California's Central Valley.

The couple are unlike most buyers of Trump piñatas, which have found a market on both sides of the border since Trump's political rise. They dislike him not because of his hard-line immigration policy proposals or his remarks about minorities, although those have added fuel. The root of their anger is a sense of profound, personal betrayal. They believe millions of Americans will soon experience it, too.

In 2007, Villavicencio and Rodriguez considered themselves among Trump’s biggest fans. When they heard he was building an oceanfront resort on a cliff in Tijuana, where both had family, they rushed to purchase two condominiums. About 250 other people, mostly from Southern California, also bought units.

Trump was one of the world’s most famous magnates. They were sure the project would prove a solid investment. A brochure for the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico described Trump as “the very definition of the American success story.” Rodriguez and Villavicencio ascribed to this notion. “I gave him all of my trust,” Rodriguez said. “When I heard it was him, I dropped all of my defenses.”

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