BajaNomad

Official Travel Warning

movinguy - 9-15-2006 at 01:26 PM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20060914-1942-cnsm...

:(

Ken Cooke - 9-15-2006 at 05:47 PM

I got that "Official Travel Warning"...hangin'! :lol:

Step to this, and you might regret it!




Brother don't play like dat, I don't neither! :mad:

Americans warned to be careful when traveling to Mexico

BajaNews - 9-15-2006 at 05:52 PM

By S. Lynne Walker
September 14, 2006

MEXICO CITY – U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza Thursday warned Americans traveling to Mexico to take extra precautions to protect themselves against an alarming rise in drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a strongly worded message citing the “near lawlessness of some parts of our border regions,” Garza said Americans have been killed, kidnapped and harassed as drug traffickers fight for control of lucrative corridors between Mexico and the United States.

“Violence in the U.S.-Mexico border region continues to threaten our very way of life,” Garza said. “Recently, throughout Mexico, that violence has escalated with sharp increases in murders and kidnappings of Mexican and American citizens alike.”

U.S. citizens have been injured by random shootings on major highways outside Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City, the U.S. Embassy said in an advisory issued Thursday along with Garza's written statement.

“Drug cartel members have been known to follow and harass U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas,” the advisory said.

Garza noted that President Vicente Fox's government has “worked closely with American law enforcement to investigate crimes and reduce violence along our border.”

“But more must be done,” he said.

The Mexican government had no immediate comment on Garza's statements.

“Drug cartels, aided by corrupt officials, reign unchecked in many towns along our common border,” Garza said. “Local law enforcement – often driven by their fear of being targeted themselves for execution – have struggled to come to grips with rising drug warfare, kidnappings, and random street violence.”

Mexican law enforcement officials and journalists have been targeted by the deadly cartels.

A police chief in the border state of Nuevo Leon was ambushed and killed on Tuesday. Earlier this year, gunmen fired assault rifles into the offices of the Nuevo Laredo newspaper El Manana, critically injuring one reporter.

Garza singled out Nuevo Laredo as an example of the escalating violence.

On Tuesday, 25 people who were going to work for a Texas-based company were kidnapped from a hotel in Nuevo Laredo and assaulted and threatened, Garza said. Last week, six youths – including an American citizen – were killed in a gang-related shootout. Two weeks ago, an hour-long gun battle took place in downtown Nuevo Laredo.

The rise in drug violence, particularly along the border, has “put a strain on travel and tourism, on the business and investment climate, and on the bilateral relationship we share,” said Garza. “The bottom line is that we simply cannot allow drug traffickers to place in jeopardy the lives of our citizens and the safety of our communities.”

Ken Cooke - 9-15-2006 at 05:59 PM

I'm still going to Tijuana like I always do. Sorry to hear all of the problems are happening on our border. Now, if we legalized Marijuana, do you think this would be happening?:?:

QuePasaBaja - 9-15-2006 at 06:28 PM

Funny I like in the border area, and have not seen americans being harassed by drug dealers. Unless that is, that they were buying the drugs.

Ken Cooke - 9-15-2006 at 06:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by QuePasaBaja
Funny I like in the border area, and have not seen americans being harassed by drug dealers. Unless that is, that they were buying the drugs.


I prefer to keep my nose clean in the streets. Baja is my Heroin and Trance music is my crack. :saint:

FARASHA - 9-16-2006 at 02:46 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Cooke
Now, if we legalized Marijuana, do you think this would be happening?:?:


In DUTCH they did, the dealers sell now other illegal stuff.

FARASHA - 9-16-2006 at 06:07 AM

Yeah, lencho, you are right from that perspective, it could get out of hand, and worsening maybe. As territorial fights would get thougher.
Europe IS indeed a different market anyway.
It was getting only better when supplying (spelling?) the addicts with an prescribed Substitution (Methadon etc.), that way they Consumers are under control of goverment, rather then from the dealers. Less crimes on the side of the users (to earn the money through ie prostitution, thefts etc..)
Works quite satisfactory in Europe.

[Edited on 16-9-2006 by FARASHA]

Cypress - 9-16-2006 at 02:01 PM

Legalized Pot? Why not? Problem? Who's gonna have a license to sell? Taxes? Can you grow your own? I'd place pot in the same category as alcohol in terms of whatever health problems it causes. One cooks you liver, the other cooks your lungs. The brain damage probably equals out.

FARASHA - 9-16-2006 at 02:25 PM

I see Larry - you think of the OTHER end of the Line - and I agree - that it is absolutely important to get an end of the distribution as well, as the production, that this has to be crushed at once.
The problem is (as always) that there is lots of money involved.And that makes corrupt.
And the guys with the big interest who benefit from it, are up the ladder, hard to get guys. And as I understood, often so called "respected"members of the society.
I have no clue if and how much is produced in Mexico itself, or what comes in, across borders, from further south.
Any statistics on that?

SDRonni - 9-16-2006 at 05:01 PM

I was so, so sorry to read this in the paper yesterday...and also the story of the three policemen being shot in a restaurant in TJ on Thursday afternoonjust a few hours after we passed by that area...All this in the paper one day after our return from four great days in Rosarito. Not to mention the fact that we have invested a large sum of money (at least to us!) in a condo development currently under construction. With all the development going on along the coast, I wouldn't be surprised if prospective American buyers will be leery of investing in Mexico...hell, I'M even leery of going back. I guess I just don't understand. If my husband and I don't do drugs, aren't in organized crime and we're not rich, what would the bad guys want with us? :?: I don't think of myself as a Pollyanna....might be wrong. All I can say is it sure is disheartening and took the wind right out of my sails....I hope things get better over the next year.....

BajaBruno - 9-16-2006 at 10:18 PM

The best model for the future is usually the past. There is little unique in the current history of humans. Early in the last century there was a multi-pronged effort to limit alcohol use as the great evil and it worked. Through education (of questionable merit) and religious peer pressure, alcohol use was at its lowest per capita rate just before Prohibition. As soon as alcohol was criminalized, it became the darling of the masses who were recoiling from the dogmatic Victorians.

Of course that episode in our history created the Mafia as we know it today. When we realized the evil of our intolerance and legalized alcohol, the Mafia just found other semi-victimless crimes to exploit: prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking, etc. But perhaps the most interesting stat is that although alcohol use diminished after Prohibition, it has never reached the pre-Prohibition lows. It seem that criminalization changed society, just as the criminalization of drugs, which happened shortly after Prohibition, made a broader strata of Americans more interested in trying them than before.

When we have a situation in this country where anyone can buy any drug in some bar in every city, it is clear that this "War on Drugs" is misguided and unnatural. I have seen several colleagues die in this "war" against our own people and I'm convinced that they died for nothing. Nothing is going to convince most people that marijuana is somehow worse for them than alcohol; and when ghetto kids are engaged in gun battles with police over "hard drugs" while Wall Street stockbrokers fearlessly go through tons of cocaine; and while the Hells Angels have gotten rich running crank labs in rented buildings while doctors legally prescribe millions of tabs of amphetamines and narcotics to people who can afford the right doctors, then we have a failed system that need to be reevaluated.

We might start by trying a little tolerance, a quality that is usually in short supply in America, but is often the very reason we all go to Baja.

Sorry if I got off topic here . . . .this post seems to have taken a life of its own ,. . .

pargo - 9-16-2006 at 11:02 PM

What's going in baja with the violence seems a little scarier to me because you're in a foreign country but I believe we're equally if not more suceptible to an even wider variety of crimes, violent or otherwise, here in the states.

Lencho

Sharksbaja - 9-17-2006 at 02:00 AM

You make an excellent case for controlling or otherwise disrpting the cartels command of"soft" drugs. The cartel recently shaken by the arrest of a kingpin has shifted the market to one of turf rather than of regular clients.
As they scramble to fill that void they resort to the old "strong arm approach" of soliciting support from those without a tangible leader. Pretty stupid really, because they lack the coveted resources that would enable them to resume shipping with the "other guys". It isn't that easy. There is frustration and it rears it's ugly hesd on the streets of the border towns where the transfers take place.

I agree in principle with the Larry as to how to drive a wedge into the Mex drug gangs. As long as they can capitalize on our failure to manage drug use and abuse the problem will flourish.

Ken Cooke - 9-17-2006 at 10:28 AM

I'll be going to stay in Rosarito Beach in the coming weekend, and I'll let everyone know if it's now more dangerous there or not.

...Better pack a bottle or two of Elk Schnaps to scare the bad guys with! :lol: :spingrin:


Cypress - 9-17-2006 at 01:04 PM

Life is a Highway and the party never ends. You've just got to keep on keeping on! There are bad people and bad places where ever you go. We deal with 'em and survive or we don't.

toneart - 9-17-2006 at 01:41 PM

This issue was a major topic on Bajanomad before Hurricane John. While it is true that you can find violence and danger in any city in the United States, unless you are a tourist nievely wandering into the bad areas because you lack the information, you know to avoid those areas. If you live in one of those areas you and your children are constantly exposed to violence and danger.

Traveling in Baja, there aren't any easy ways to avoid exposure. It is easy to get lost or turned around in Tijuana. Or you could have a flat tire or some other mechanical problem on the highway and have to stop. While travelling south, most people take Highway 1. Lately, Americans have been shot, and one killed on Highway 1. We are like cattle going to slaughter being funneled down a narrow chute. We don't really know if they are random shootings or not.

The shooters and muggers have been described as having shaved heads, tatoos and speaking English. Sounds like U.S. gang bangers to me, venturing south of the border to try and grab a piece of the drug cartel turf. Targeting Americans is a way to intimidate Mexican Police and also assert themselves as vying turf claimers. This is my own speculation and I could be all wrong.

Information is a necessary thing. People need to be aware so they don't innocently stumble into a war zone and so that they can make educated decisions for themselves.

Ken Cooke - 9-17-2006 at 02:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by toneart
Information is a necessary thing. People need to be aware so they don't innocently stumble into a war zone and so that they can make educated decisions for themselves.


Very well said. This weekends group will be a large one with 3 families all going to Ensenada and Lobster Village. We'll keep an eye on things, but also have a great time. My biggest danger will be eating too many tortillas! :barf:

KEN

bajaguy - 9-18-2006 at 08:06 PM

Wore my "got baja" hat in Ensenada this weekend, but didn't see you!!!!

bajabound2005 - 9-18-2006 at 08:22 PM

Bajaguy, we didn't see YOU either! Looks like the Baja Golf Club has their hands full keeping the graffiti off the new white walls....white was not a good choice of color!!!

Ken Cooke - 9-18-2006 at 08:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajaguy
Wore my "got baja" hat in Ensenada this weekend, but didn't see you!!!!


Friday the 23rd of Sept. I will be driving down w/wife Suzanne in the Jeep. Returning the 25th in the early evening.

bajaguy - 9-18-2006 at 08:30 PM

I think they have somebody stationed there with a 5 gallon bucket of white paint and a roller.....lol.

Found out on Saturday the lot next to mine sold...so neighbors on both sides.......I'll try and attach a photo.

Ensenada 06.jpg - 37kB