Violence in Yucatan

[deeper thoughts]

I resent your statement, and your tone, there's equal or worse violence in your country. This incident was far removed from the major tourist areas, and unless visitors to Mexico are not involved with dealings with drug traffickers, they should be able to enjoy a nice vacation.

In my country women don't put babies in the microwave to get back at their boyfriends, and our children do not shoot each other at school, I think you need to re-evaluate you post thoroughly...

You had a valid point until the end of your post and now your just as guilty.
I think you also need to evaluate your post thoroughly .

 

[dive pro]

always remeber...mexico is mexico...........

so....mexico is mexico, what exactly does that mean, have you had really bad crime experiences in mexico that you want to let us know on this forum???
There is crime in this country but also there is respect for the tourism i have never heard of dive gear hold ups or anything like that.
This case of yucatan has nothing to do with the general population, much less with tourism it is a drug war that does not affect the dive industry. Yes there is crime like in other countries, and what antonio meant was that the crime here is within the drug cartels. Crime is not an exclusive of mexico, and yes it is bad and we are all concerned about it, in the big city there are kidnappings etc.but make no mistake this does not affect diving, tourism, foreign investment etc. Mexico is mexico a country with open arms for tourists, investment and the majority of them come back and recommend it maybe you want to check how many foreigners in this forum have their own businesses, dive shops etc here cause they love it so much. And it is also (mexico) the reason of this forum. We are all entitled to our own opinions. I respect that ,i just am courious about what.....mexico is mexico....means??? Is it that bad....i have lived in other countries but have always come back.
By the way the yucatan state has a wide variety of cenotes, like the riviera maya all diveable, a lot of speleologists and cave experts leisure dive the yucatan cenotes.
And by the way the bodies were found in a remote area of yucatan not even close to touristy spots like mentioned at the beginning of the thread, the goverment special forces caught the cell of criminals within hours and still are investigating.
Let me express that cancun, cozumel, playa del carmen, the mayan riviera, tulum, majahual,merida, valladolid chichen itza etc etc are safe places to visit, yes there is the ocasional wiseguy like everywhere in the world but these are the safest places to visit in mexico.

 

[cowdog77]

I think the following link is the source the OP referred to:

Drug war terror spreads in Mexico as bodies are dumped in tourist areas - Times Online

 

[deborahdelamar]

Well, it really rubs me the wrong way when I see readers' comments on these articles..."Build the wall now." "The war's coming to the USA."

Why are the cartels fighting each other for control n Mexico? Because Mexico is the last transit link before the rich, demanding market for their drugs: The good ole' USA!

 

[dive pro]

i think the following link is the source the op referred to:

drug war terror spreads in mexico as bodies are dumped in tourist areas - times online

i can understand perfectly well just like when i click on any news agency about crimes elsewhere, sometimes exagerated, sometimes twisting the note or the place etc. But the report from the goverment agencies, local yucatan news, the area where they dumped them was at a very far community a poor place far away from any little town not even city, yucatan is a big state but generally when any one hears yucatan since the whole 3 state peninsula is called peninsula of yucatan everyone thinks it means touristic places. With all due respect to uk news they are so very far away....
And actually this druglord war is not about who sends it to usa it is a war to divide the states of mexico and provide drugs to mexicans, 20 years ago here in cancun the only drug news were about tons. Of drugs being found floating because they came from colombia and went to the north but now it is about the control of who buys from who and sells to mexicans on the so called narcstores. In any case it is really bad, in fact there was a big manifestation people all over the country marched yesterday dressed in white saying no more crime......but again it has nothing to do with tourism, diving etc. Just the words ".....and bodies are dumped in tourist areas..." can affect so very many people that make a living of tourism, diving etc.
This is just my humble opinion

 

[lamont]

The main tourist dive areas are in the state of Quintana Roo.

I haven't been to Merida, but it is the "big city" of the Yucatan, and I would expect more crime and problems there than in the sparsely populated and heavily tourist-dependent areas of the Riviera Maya.

I'm certain that there will be an illegal market in drugs in Cancun and PDC. Someone has to be supplying that market, and if the violence in mexico is between those kinds of domestic suppliers (rather than simply traffickers to the USA), it certainly isn't out of the question for it to spread to the tourist-dependent areas. Although, I wouldn't be too shocked if the hotel owners in Cancun, the Federales and the dealers had at least an 'understanding' between them about how the illegal trade is supposed to occur there and gang warfare would definitely violate that understanding...

(And no, I'm not making a "mexico is mexico" argument, I'm making an argument about the pervasiveness of the illegal drugs trade and corruption around the world -- I simply doubt mexico is an exception).

Still, there could be enough money in the trade there to make it worthwhile to fight over it, even though the hotel owners and the federales will respond, so it may still occur. And the size of the hotels in Cancun suggest to me that there's potentially a lot of money. I would not assume that what is going on will avoid the Tourista areas...

 

[deborahdelamar]

I'm reacting to the newspaper reports here, not to anything posted by Scubaboard members. And I'm also speaking as a new homeowner in the Yucatan who feels very welcome and safe there -- much more than I do in my NYC suburban home.

If this is a domestic (Mexican) problem, then we should do everything we can to support Mexico's efforts to solve it rather than promote sensationalized news accounts. There are facts omitted from the stories that would be good to know -- like exactly where these crimes took place and who, exactly, the victims were. It's unfair to report that people were killed close to Merida which is close to Cancun when these places are actually hundreds of miles apart and everyone involved is a criminal.

I know that there are good law enforcement types from Mexico and other countries who have good track records and are working on it, but that isn't getting much press.

It's very important to continue to support Mexican tourism and keep that part of their economy churnng -- and to have a good time! The Yucatan, which is the only part of the country I know, is safe. Anything we can do to encourage confidence and economic stability in Mexico bodes well for everyone.

 

[driftwood]

I have looked into the current problem and it seems to be a fight between the Sinaloan trafficers and the Zetas. The beheadings are meant to be a message saying that; "I can do this when I want and you cannot stop me". Think about the steps that led up to the headline. Mass kidnappings, torture, murder at leisure, and dumping the bodies where they would be found. BTW, let's tattoo the bodies so that everyone knows who did it.

For tourists, stay away from drugs, and the police, you should be ok. Mexico is heavily dependent on the tourist trade and has every reason to protect that flow of money. Not good for business if guests are afraid to be in your country.

On a side note, the assistant chief of police in PDC was killed earlier this month by gunmen. May not be related to drugs, but I wouldn't put money on that option. The targeted assassinations are going on in the major tourist areas. The Mexican security forces are ill equipped to deal with the problem since they have been completely compromised by the drug trade.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

im with you on this one antonio,
crime is just as bad in the states, europe or anywhere in the world. drugs are the problem here and unless your put yourself in that situation your not going to see the dark side to it! cancun, playa & coz are prehaps some of the safest and cleanest toursit destinations in the world.... come on guys.... no bad press like this!

 

[SterlingDiver]

im with you on this one antonio,
crime is just as bad in the states, europe or anywhere in the world. drugs are the problem here and unless your put yourself in that situation your not going to see the dark side to it! cancun, playa & coz are prehaps some of the safest and cleanest toursit destinations in the world.... come on guys.... no bad press like this!

........not a dozen headless bodies laying around my neighborhood, or anywhere close to it.

As to the OP, I have traveled to this area many times and as long as you stay on the beaten path you should be fine. It is not in the good or bad guy's interest to not have your dollars/pounds come to town.

Keep your original plans and have a great time.

Good Diving,

Dave