sf7307

Yikes:

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018...avel-advisory/

suze

Though none of the killings occurred in the city’s beach-side hotel zone.

Before I freak out... I would want to know where exactly the bodies were found. And if they are foreign visitors or Mexican nationals.

ekscrunchy

“While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred,” the State Department said on their website. "


If the people with guns and machetes are running around but only targeting Mexican nationals, does that make Cancun an appealing place to visit? Years (many years!) ago I was driving in downtown Acapulco and right in front of me, two guys began trading gunfire in front of my rented car. Never forget how scary that was. I'd never seen active gunfire before.

Hope Cancun does not go in that direction....I am imagining that not so many here remember the time when Aca was "The" place to go for sun and sand in Mexico..long before the FONATUR-invented resorts of Cancun, Huatuco, Cabo, etc. Has anyone been there recently? I sometimes wonder what happened to that once-thriving city/resort.

There are a few ominous signs in Cabo SL and in Cancun....very few, thus far, I think. I'm not one for those big resorts so do not know any details.....

suze

but only targeting Mexican nationals

These deaths are not "Mexican nationals", as in tourist from other parts of Mexico, they are cartel related killings.

Regardless, of course dead bodies aren't ever good for tourism.

november_moon

No, dead bodies aren't good for tourism, regardless of who is dead.

We've all known that the cartels are active in most of Mexico for a long time and that in some areas, things are really really bad. But in most of the tourist areas, the violence has been far removed from places tourists would frequent. If you didn't go looking for trouble, trouble wouldn't come looking for you. Recently though, that seems to be changing. There have been shootings on the beaches, on main streets in towns. Tourists haven't been targeted, but tourists have witnessed these shootings. And it's not like these guys are certified marksmen. If they don't get this under control, sooner or later, someone is going to screw up and a tourist will get killed. It's bad enough when this violence happen behind the scenes and impacted the local residents. If it hits tourism, then Cancun could go the way of Acapulco.

I don't have any plans to travel to the Mayan Riviera any time soon, so I don't have to make a decision about should we or shouldn't we. The darned saragasm is enough to keep me away for now.

ekscrunchy

Suze: Mexican nationals means just what it says: .it means persons que tienen either a passport, or more common, the cedula de identidad de Mexico. Who cares what documents are found on a dead body? It's enough to not make me want to go there until I find out more info on what is going on...
I imagine the dead persons are Mexican nationals....that is all I said..tourists in my mind means persons visiting from a different locale for vacation or for nefarious purposes..be they from Sinaloa or from Veracruz.

suze

Yes I know that. I was attempting to differentiate between Mexican nationals who are members of a drug cartel and Mexican nationals who are on a beach vacation with their family.

november_moon

Yes, we could just call all visitors tourists, regardless nationality. That would make things easier.

Rohelio

Unfortunately, everything mentioned here above is on the up and up, wether it be in Cancun or PDC or Tulum !

Rohelio

We sold our condo two years ago ( puerto Aventuras) because of the rise in crime and cartel activities . That said we kept on vacationing in the area but things only seemed to get worst. So last year we tried PV for 3 months after which we ended up again in Playa to end our stay for the remaining 3 months. This time we actually witnessed a settling of accounts only one block from our bedroom window. Yes, the body was still in the street until around noon. The police took all the measurements and pictures and left with the poor soul in an ambulance. Returning from Chedraui, I walked by the site only to find the remaining blood and activity still there for all to see. I am sorry to say that it was our last visit in an area that we had come to love and enjoy.
Honestly, it does not matter who gets roughed up or shot... a national or a tourist, to us , it is something that we do not wish to live again !

baldone

<Mexican nationals who are members of a drug cartel and Mexican nationals who are on a beach vacation with their family.>
Sometimes, they are one and the same. Especially in 'quieter' resort areas, where the incumbent controlling cartel is not engaged in a turf battle. But be assured, narcos enjoy a nice beach vacay with their families as much as the rest of us, even more so with the money they can spend.

november_moon

Of course the people involved in the cartels and their families engage in normal life and do things like take vacations. However, unless they are committing violent acts while on vacation or people are committing violent acts against them, their presence in a resort area probably wouldn't adversely affect any of the other tourists. Tourism doesn't really suffer due to the existence of drug cartels. It suffers when the violence starts happening in front of tourists and in areas where tourists frequent.

Rohelio

And that is what is facing the tourists and locals that live in Cancun and the Riviera Maya. For the many years that we frequented and invested in Quintana Roo, we have come to realize that crime is prevalent throughout Playa and Cancun and for the most part frowned upon by the majority of the Mexican people. The fact that we can read the daily news papers while vacationning gives us an accurate view of the terrible crimes committed which often involves the taxi drivers... Unfortunately, we no longer wish to vacation in the PDC area and will therefore need to find another, safer Mexican location...