Isla Mujeres History

In this article, eighty-year-old islander "El Chocolate" Garrido talks about his life to Isla Mujeres historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid. This is part I and a copy in Spanish is below.      Don Chocolate related his story while sitting in his wheelchair, remembering the days when he was a coprero, milpero, carbonero, artesano, marino naval, lagartero, and pescador. (Copreros work on coconut plantations, milperos are farmers, carboneros make charcoal, and he was an artesan, Naval sailor, crocodile hunter, and a fisherman.)      He is one of those pure blooded islanders who each day watches his community lose some of the charm that made it famous.He was born June 18, 1933 and his full name is Perpetuo Socorro Garrido Tuz. His parents were islanders who lived and worked on the coast as copreros. He was born with a midwife in attendance, between coconut palms. He says, "As soon as I learned to walk, I helped plant coconuts, prun...