Interpretation of Current Events

Hopefully Peloncito can just disregard Gnukid's take on the safety issue. The real issue is that there should be a healthy amount of awareness on the part of anybody driving in the northern zone from Tijuana to Rosario. There have been some reported problems that justify increased sensitivity but it is also a real waste of time and energy to see every policeman and federal agent as out to get you. I read the postings and the newspaper articles, but I also live in Mexico half of the year by choice, so I maintain my positive attitude and when I interact with police or military I assume, until proven otherwise, that we are both people going about our lives. It is, in my opinion, a form of prejudice, that we see everyone out to get us because they are from a different country with a different language.
So drive down, have a great trip, enjoy the sights, sounds, and the aromas, but keep one eye open just in case.

hello

Y'know, I just got back from 4 weeks in Baja today, and maybe tomorrow I will go down to the Trubune newspaper in San Diego and punch Sandra Dibble & her reporter friends right in the noses!

She must really hate Mexico for some reason. Her/their sensationalistic & overblown articles, repeated across the USA, have almost singlehandedly reduced tourism in Baja by 30 percent. We were saddened to see tourist-related businesses & beach vendors that we've known for 6 years, being unable to feed their families properly due to the tourist downturn she's caused.

I wonder why she/they don't write articles about the murders, robberies, muggings, kidnappings, rapes that happen every day in San Diego, and drive tourists out of her town?? Why not write about 12 murders per day in L.A.??

Every city & town in America has many times more crime than Baja, but you & I don't run in the same circles, or neighborhoods, that drug dealers & criminals run in, do we?

Baja is as safe as you want/allow it to be. Don't stay home because of her efforts to fill a slow-news day. Go share the adventure of Baja - just take along your common sense!


(This venting of steam WILL also go to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Managing Editor tomorrow)

Right on!!!!

RIGHT OFF!!!!

Barry,
Shoot the messenger

It is unfortunate that your business is hurting from the news/facts, as well as the income of the Baja locals affected.

Those of us who love the Baja will return ... some with eyes wider open and some with rose-tinted views.

I love the Baja but my wife won't return as she was robbed by a taxi driver (operating a van from the Zocalo church in San Jose) and dumped on the highway by the airport in 2000.

My last month-long trip there last winter was excellent, and the only theft experience was at a Barbeque steakhouse in La Paz that charged my buddy $40 for a "Cowboy Steak" (the special which was a tough flank steak)....

The crime in Baja has deterred tourists, not the reporter or the newspaper.


Who you going to punch for reporting the murders (gang related, mostly) in Vancouver ?

Enjoy the Baja, but keep the assaults to a minimum

There's way more violence in the USA than in Mexico, but at least in the USA you can carry a gun to take out a bad guy or two. Might give 'em some second thoughts, makes easy pickens not so easy.

Quote:

Originally posted by Baja&Back Y'know, I just got back from 4 weeks in Baja today, and maybe tomorrow I will go down to the Trubune newspaper in San Diego and punch Sandra Dibble & her reporter friends right in the noses! She must really hate Mexico for some reason. Her/their sensationalistic & overblown articles, repeated across the USA, have almost singlehandedly reduced tourism in Baja by 30 percent. We were saddened to see tourist-related businesses & beach vendors that we've known for 6 years, being unable to feed their families properly due to the tourist downturn she's caused.

SDRonni, Just depends on where you're shopping.

Don't be sorry....I would place a wager that Baja crime is WAY under-reported...and if any reporters "sensationalize", they are appealing to those who would likely not go anyway. Mexico has a long history of being presented in the press as a dangerous place to travel....and Hollywood has historically tended to characterize Mexicans as much less than they are as good people.

Good luck with your trips.

in my best homer simpson interpretation-

"We're all gonna die!............"

Must be helpful to support one's position with things that are made up?

Can you imagine how many kidnapped people in Mexico are not reporting the crime, just because they would get ridiculed on this Board? Sounds serious.

These incidents are reported with the inference that they affect us personally, as tourists, and that OUR lives are in danger when crossing the border. They don't, just as drug killings & bank robberies with automatic weapons here at home very rarely affect our lives. (Some guy back east just shot 4 cops & a judge over parking tickets last week.) Staying at home is the Ostrich Syndrome. Taking your Common Sense (just how common is it?) with you is the way to go.

Now, talking about Transito cops hitting you up, that happens to us at least once a tour. They also try it in Constitucion (consistantly) & La Paz. It's expected & annoying, like beach vendors in your face. Acting like a dumb tourist & outlasting the cop is the most effective approach. If they're too persistant, demanding to pay at the police station & getting a receipt is next. I've never heard of a cop pulling his weapon for mordida in Mexico, altho I have been robbed at gunpoint by a cop in Thailand. Wouldn't hesitate to visit Thailand again over it.

Motoged has a real good point. Mexico has always gotten the "Bloodthirsty Injin" treatment in the US. The State Dept has perpetually had travel advisories out on Mexico. On the other hand, the Canadian gov't advises that the most violent & crime ridden countries in the world to visit are the USA, England, Australia & New Zealand! What the heck does a tourist do???

Go see the real Baja (not border towns), the last bastion of the frontier west, where most folks are polite, respectful, and would share their last tortilla with you!

Quote:

Originally posted by Baja&Back Go see the real Baja (not border towns), the last bastion of the frontier west, where most folks are polite, respectful, and would share their last tortilla with you!

Barry

Totally agree with your assessment of the transito cops in Cuidad Constitucion. Got there one Sunday about 9 am only to be stopped by Flaco and Gordo the morning patrol boys. I was told that I had made an illegal left hand turn. I advised them that the last left hand turn I had made that morning was when I left La Paz and that they clearly had made a mistake. I used only English and spent as much time as possible with them and then they lost interest. I left without a ticket. They didn't suggest mordida.

I didn't know that Rosarito cops patrolled that far into BCS.

Did you notice the silence from the "experts" when presented the proof of Union-Trib distortion and exaggeration in their reporting?

Boycott San Fernando Valley, Irvine, Arizona, Pleasanton, Las Vegas and Missouri (parking ticket killer). They all have more crime than Baja. Thanks for the head's up, I will add New Zealand, Australia and UK.

[Edited on 2-11-2008 by The Gull]