(PNS reporting from MEXICO) Famed Chicano attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta — who “disappeared without a trace” in Mexico 40 years ago — has once again seen his shadow while sitting on the wharf in San Blas, Nayarit. Now he’ll have to live a life of secret exile for another year.
Acosta, now 78, sits on a comfortable chair overlooking the Pacific every June 1. If he sees his shadow before a certain time, Acosta announces, “I have paid all my debts, I have paid all my dues and now nothing remains but the joy of madness. Another Indian gone amok.”
He made that exact announcement in a workingman’s waterfront pulque bar 10 days ago, PNS has learned.
Since establishing himself in San Blas in 1974 (photo), Acosta has pondered returning to Los Angeles and resuming his work as an activist attorney, according to local pescador Sócrates Cruz.
But Acosta’s shadow has consistently appeared every year, longtime friend Altagracia Méndez told PNS. “When he sees his shadow on the muelle, I don’t know. I do know he sits there every afternoon with ceviche, a bucket of cerveza Sol, and a writing pad. Just sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time.”
Acosta, also known as the Búfalo Café, declined PNS requests for an interview unless we had some really good acid. “This is bat country,” he noted.