Thread: Drug violence, political unrest make many rethink Mexico tri

http://www.signonsandiego.com

Drug violence, political unrest in Mexican tourist spots make many rethink trips


By Mark Stevenson
ASSOCIATED PRESS

10:11 a.m. August 3, 2006

MEXICO CITY – A human head washes up on an Acapulco beach. Protesters hassle visitors at makeshift checkpoints in the once-quaint colonial city of Oaxaca. And in Mexico City, leftist demonstrators turn much of the elegant Reforma Avenue and Zocalo plaza into a sprawling, ragtag protest camp.

Mexico's growing political unrest and drug violence are making foreigners think twice about trips to Mexico, where tourism is the country's third-largest source of income, after oil exports and remittances sent home by migrants living in the United States. The country was already struggling after Hurricane Wilma hit the country's biggest tourist moneymaker, Cancun, last fall. The famous beach resort is still recovering.

Protesters who have taken the cultural hearts of southern Oaxaca city and the capital are angry with politicians, not tourists. The same goes for drug gangs in the Pacific resort of Acapulco, where human heads have been dumped in front of government offices and even in the glittering resort's famous bay.

But visitors are still caught in the middle, and hotels are being hit by cancellations of thousands of reservations.

In Mexico City, supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have taken over streets to press the nation's top electoral court for a recount in the disputed presidential race. On Thursday, Korean businesswoman Sophia Noh, 28, paced outside the blockaded stock exchange building, wondering how she was going to get in for a business meeting.

“This has made things harder,” Noh said. “I think both sides should begin to negotiate.”

Across the street, tourist Elvira Gotuzzo, 60, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was trying to rent a car to flee the chaotic capital. She and her family were too scared to venture down to the city's 7-century-old downtown because it was occupied by a motley collection of gas cookers, ragged tents and demonstrators.

“This is a crime,” Gotuzzo said. “It's such a shame!”

Despite growing calls from President Vicente Fox and even Lopez Obrador's own supporters, city officials who are allied with the leftist candidate have refused to take action. Losses for area hotels, restaurants and stores are adding up to about US$23 million (euro18 million) per day, according to the city's Commerce, Services and Tourism Chamber. Some businesses have threatened to stop paying taxes.

Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas said city officials agreed Thursday to guarantee access to the city's hotels and let tourist taxis ferry people to and from the airport. Before that, many tourists were forced to lug heavy bags for blocks.

The protesters claim the July 2 elections were tainted by fraud, giving conservative Felipe Calderon a narrow margin of advantage. The case in now before an electoral tribunal, which has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the election.

Protesters in Oaxaca are claiming fraud in the state gubernatorial race, and have taken over the historic center of the state's capital to demand that Gov. Ulises Ruiz step down. They forced the cancellation of a famed ethnic festival and make tourists pass through checkpoints to reach the picturesque, arch-ringed main plaza.

It's not that protesters and drug gangs intentionally set out to block tourism, but they do see it as a powerful lever to press the government to settle their demands.

“They see this as a pressure method, in which they can force the population that relies on tourism to put pressure on the government,” said Jose Escobar, head of the employers' federation in Oaxaca.

In Acapulco, drug gangs are battling for control of lucrative smuggling and sale routes.

“This is a market that is being fought over by gangs,” Acapulco Mayor Felix Salgado told local news media. “We as the government definitely can't take on one group, or the other.”

While no tourists have been hurt in any of the three cities, there have been running gun battles on Acapulco streets. Residents say they are quick to run from the late-model SUVs favored by drug traffickers.

Mexican officials, however, deny any problems.

“The city is functioning as a tourist attraction, though not in the way we would wish,” said Carlos Mackinlay, director of Mexico City tourism promotion. “If this goes on, for a week or 10 days more, some hotels are going to be in a desperate situation.”

The demonstrators are occupying Mexico City's financial and cultural heart, blaring salsa music from loudspeakers and offering endless harangues about the alleged vote fraud.

They have driven out double-decker buses that once toured the tree-lined Reforma, which connects the city's Chapultepec Park to the historic center and was modeled after European boulevards like Paris' Champs-Elysees.

Museums, restaurants and hotels stand largely empty, and those tourists who have braved the demonstrations must often hike to their hotels, skirting rickety gas cookers and ducking under ropes holding up tarps covering Reforma.

Helmetless motorcycle “taxi” drivers now offer terrifying, 15-peso (US$ 1.35) rides on the backs of their bikes, navigating past lawn chairs, cots and tents.

Things aren't likely to improve soon.

“This is only the first step. Next, we're going after the airports,” said protester Fernando Martinez, helping block a downtown office building.

“This is a market that is being fought over by gangs,” Acapulco Mayor Felix Salgado told local news media. “We as the government definitely can't take on one group, or the other.”

That's because your enforcement is as corrupt as your government.
And you should place some blame on Fox and some of the past corrupt Mexican leaders. They haven't done much to rid Mexico of the gang problem.

Mexico should be placed on the dangerous to travel to list by the state department. I think Americans should boycott Mexico as a tourist destination period.. Tourists aren't"safe" unless they are in the all inclusive resorts with guards patroling the grounds.

This sounds like another great plan that should help people make up their minds to avoid your country.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_com ... 3_0_10_0_C

Lopez Obrador backers to block Valley bridges
By JUAN CARLOS SANCHEZ
The Brownsville Herald

Supporters of Mexican presidential candidate Andrés López Obrador plan to block international bridges at Reynosa-Hidalgo and Matamoros-Brownsville, Jorge de la Rosa, coordinator for the National Movement for Democracy in Tamaulipas told the Mexican newspaper Mural.

On its Web site, the paper said the two bridges would be blocked during the day Friday, when vehicle traffic is most active.

“We’re sorry that people will be affected, but it seems this is the only acceptable recourse for justice to be made,” De la Rosa told to Guadalajara newspaper.

Lopez Obrador’s sympathizers have closed the Paseo de la Reforma Avenue with at least 47 tents blocking traffic in the center of Mexico City.

The blockage is intended to pressure the Federal Electoral Tribunal (IFE) to order a vote-by-vote recount of the July 2 Mexican presidential election.

Protesters plan to block the Benito Juárez Bridge in Reynosa-Hidalgo for two hours, while the Gateway Bridge in Brownsville will be closed to incoming and outgoing traffic.

“We know we are breaking federal law by blocking a federal roadway, but the government is committing a greater crime for al-lowing a megafraud in the July 2 elections”, de la Rosa told Mural.

According to IFE, Lopez Obrador got 35.32 percent of the vote behind 35.89 percent for Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party.


Posted on Aug 03, 06 | 12:00 am