BajaNomad - LA Times Article-Tijuana Safer

LA Times Article-Tijuana Safer

SteveD - 5-9-2010 at 08:35 AM

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-tijuana-...

Article in the LA Times: "Tijuana Comes Back To Life"

since the capture of Teo.

[Edited on 5-17-2010 by BajaNomad]

Gaucho - 5-9-2010 at 09:16 AM

Steve, I think you need to repost the ENTIRE link. It's not coming up.

Timo1 - 5-9-2010 at 09:20 AM

I just copied and pasted it to a fresh browser....good article

Woooosh - 5-9-2010 at 09:30 AM

( I couldn't get the full link to paste either...)

The problem is getting people to accept "before-Narco violence TJ" as having ever been "safe". The reality is that TJ was always a little dangerous, chaotic and naughty- which was part of the appeal with a low-drinking age, seedy nightclubs and cheap trinkets for blocks. You cross the border south, enter the third world and begin your adventure. The crooked traffic cops and minor shakedowns of tourists were pretty much anticipated by all and accepted as part of the tourist experience.

Can TJ is set a new definition for "safety" that people will accept as real? Is it safer than two years ago? yes. Will it be better and safer than it was before the narco-violence- not likely or even possible. The current economic-based minor crimes of opportunity are overwhelming. But that's OK so long as people understand that pre-narco safety levels does not mean TJ was safe then or safe now.

We'll see after the local elections how important safety really is to TJ. Ramping up to the elections- nothing should be taken at face value- it's all distortions and Mexican-style politics... all show and little substance like everywhere else in the world.

[Edited on 5-9-2010 by Woooosh]

[Edited on 5-9-2010 by Woooosh]

SteveD - 5-9-2010 at 09:34 AM

I posted the entire link but the last part did not copy as blue and is not being used for the link. (does anyone knoe why?) You can copy and paste the entire link as Timo1 suggests or use http://www.latimes.com/ today as it is a front page story and is on the first page of their web.

mtgoat666 - 5-9-2010 at 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
The reality is that TJ was always a little dangerous, chaotic and naughty- which was part of the appeal with a low-drinking age, seedy nightclubs and cheap trinkets for blocks. You cross the border south, enter the third world and begin your adventure. The crooked traffic cops and minor shakedowns of tourists were pretty much anticipated by all and accepted as part of the tourist experience.

well, there is "adventure" and then their is "dieing." Most people avoid the "adventure" if the probability of kidnap, beating, armed robbery or murder is unacceptably high.

Woooosh - 5-9-2010 at 11:17 AM

Yeah, the article clearly says not many Americans are returning to TJ yet. It's mostly Mexicans tired of being locked down in their homes returning to Downtown TJ to hold business meetings in a safer environment- but the revival has to start somewhere and the locals are a good indicator.

k-rico - 5-9-2010 at 11:18 AM

Quote:

Yeah but the American tourists have disappeared so many of those businesses have too. The absence of American tourists is bringing some civility to Centro.

[Edited on 5-9-2010 by k-rico]

It's A Software Limitation of the Forum

Bajahowodd - 5-9-2010 at 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveD
I posted the entire link but the last part did not copy as blue and is not being used for the link. (does anyone knoe why?) You can copy and paste the entire link as Timo1 suggests or use http://www.latimes.com/ today as it is a front page story and is on the first page of their web.

There's a max number of characters that one can hot link. There are alternatives that allow one to create a shorter link for posting, or:

By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times

May 8, 2010 | 7:59 p.m.

Reporting from Tijuana
Waiters on restaurant row are welcoming customers they haven't seen since the first days of the drug war. Police no longer patrol neighborhoods in four-vehicle convoys. Kidnappings are down, and late-night crowds are way up at clubs and bars.

"Look at all the single ladies here," said Juan Carlos Eguiluz, taking in the bustling scene at his Cheripan restaurant in the Zona Rio dining district. "Single lady. Single lady. Single lady. They know they're safe and respected here."

Four months after the capture of the notorious crime boss Teodoro Garcia Simental, this border city is showing glimpses of its old, vibrant self. Like survivors of a Category 5 hurricane of crime, residents are emerging from their homes, wary but hopeful.

While clashes in other key drug-trafficking centers such as Juarez are reaching new heights of brutality, the uniquely savage violence that has plagued Tijuana during the government's three-year war on organized crime has declined dramatically since the January arrest.

Drug-fueled crime has always cycled up and down, of course. But there are no signs that anyone of Garcia's ruthless ambition has stepped into the power void. Although homicides still occur at a steady pace, the beheadings, massacres and dissolution of victims in lye that were Garcia's terrorizing trademark have largely stopped.

Near the bustling produce market on Insurgentes Boulevard where 13 people died in the gun battle that sparked the local drug war two years ago, taco vendors push carts still bullet-riddled from the shootout, but say there's no need to duck these days.

Across town, businessmen and politicians have cut back on large security details that shadowed their movements and ferried their children to school. "We feel that since they caught all these monsters, things are going to calm down," said Genaro de la Torre, a businessman.

***

In other drug war hot spots, crime bosses are distant, shadowy figures whose killing rampages are a blur of anonymity. In Tijuana, the violence had a face: Garcia's chubby mug.

He was a hometown narco-soldier turned renegade cartel lieutenant, carousing in restaurants and banquet halls, roaming the city in a convoy of armored SUVs and leaving behind a trail of tortured massacre victims, proudly claiming responsibility with taunting narco-messages.

His gunmen killed hundreds of rivals from the Arellano Felix drug cartel, and at least 45 police officers. He accumulated wealth by holding for ransom middle- and upper-class residents, forcing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of families to flee across the border to San Diego. Many residents feared even saying his name, instead referring to him by holding up three fingers to signify his nickname, El Tres, the three.

To this day, some people avoid the sprawling eastern part of the city, a mostly working-class area far from tourist destinations that was Garcia's stronghold. One real estate developer sold out a subdivision there, only to see some of his new homebuyers get kidnapped.

"It was almost like we put them on stage. They became targets. It makes us feel horrible," said the developer, declining to be identified for security reasons.

The developer, like some other businesspeople and lawyers, conducts business nowadays at upscale restaurants in the Zona Rio, holding meetings and sales calls between servings.

"I feel very safe here," said Alisha Oceguera, a 20-year-old student who crossed the border from San Diego with friends to dine at Cheripan on a recent Saturday night. Some parents still don't like their children to stay out late, but many have eased their home-by-dark rule, she said.

Some chefs say they're seeing double the number of customers from last year. Some are people who fled the city, and now feel safe enough to return to their old haunts. At Cheripan, the lines stretch out the door on weekends, and the owner of the nearby La Querencia, where a photo of visiting U2's front man, Bono, hangs on the wall, is planning to open two new restaurants.

"People from Tijuana are dynamic," said La Querencia's owner, Miguel Angel Guerrero. "You can't keep us closeted. We have to go out."

****

Mayor Jorge Ramos is laying out the welcome mat. The city has successfully hosted several conventions and events in recent months, including the World Junior Taekwondo Championships, he points out, adding that visitors from Southern California shouldn't be afraid.

"We lived many difficult days, but with the arrest of more than 100 drug lords, things have gotten better," said Ramos, adding that he has been able to cut back on a security detail that once totaled 24 bodyguards. "We want to invite everybody to see how things have improved."

Few U.S. citizens have taken him up on the offer. The city's top tourist draw, downtown's once-raucous Avenida Revolucion, attracts only trickles of tourists, mostly Chinese or Europeans who ride the usually empty double-decker tourist bus around some of the city's historic sites and shopping areas.

Government officials complain that the State Department's travel alerts are scaring off visitors. After Garcia's capture, local authorities hoped Washington would ease the warnings, but the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana issued another one, saying Garcia's arrest could trigger more violence.

"When gunfire/explosions are heard, immediately move to a safe area with good cover," said the alert, which Mexican officials called alarmist and contradictory. They note that the same travel warning says there's no evidence that U.S. tourists have been targeted in any narco-violence.

For many residents, a stark indicator of changing times is the new nightlife scene burgeoning in downtown Tijuana. Called "La Sexta" — for its location on Sixth Street — the area's funky theme bars attract a mixed crowd of hipsters and professionals, college students and young businessmen.

A few years ago, crime fears would have hampered the growth of the trendy scene. But times have changed, said Rueben Flores, 35, a bartender at one of the popular spots in the area, La Mezcalera.

"If there was violence, the Sexta wouldn't exist," Flores said. "We wouldn't have business."

richard.marosi@latimes.com

tjBill - 5-9-2010 at 01:46 PM

I noticed a lot of people out last night. I thought it was the spring weather. They are closing all bars at 3:00 am.

mtgoat666 - 5-9-2010 at 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Although homicides still occur at a steady pace, the beheadings, massacres and dissolution of victims in lye that were Garcia's terrorizing trademark have largely stopped.

"homicides still occur at a steady pace"

your family can rest assured they won't dissolve your body in lye or hang your corpse from bridge, so they can have a presntable body to bury :bounce:

let's all go to TJ and tie one on! party on, dudes!

Bajahowodd - 5-9-2010 at 02:14 PM

First off, the quote is by the reporter, although your post makes it appear that it was my words. That said, I'm guessing that the reporter could have done a better job of articulating. TJ, just as any big city is going to have a "background" rate of homicides.

JESSE - 5-9-2010 at 03:44 PM

Hey arrow azz, where ever you are reading this, TOLD YOU SO!!!!

Bajahowodd - 5-9-2010 at 05:03 PM

Love it. Now, back to mesquite for you, Jesse!

movinguy - 5-9-2010 at 09:57 PM

I am seeing a number of middle-class Mexicans in Chula Vista moving back to Tijuana. Combine:

- crappy U.S. economy/job market
- cheap TJ real estate/rent
- decrease in violence/narcotraffic

and it's not so bad after all.

Hey, I'd go just for Cheripan . . .

BJSoccer16 - 5-16-2010 at 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by movinguy
I am seeing a number of middle-class Mexicans in Chula Vista moving back to Tijuana. Combine:

- crappy U.S. economy/job market
- cheap TJ real estate/rent
- decrease in violence/narcotraffic

and it's not so bad after all.

Hey, I'd go just for Cheripan . . .

So that's why the border line is getting longer in the morning; used to be short at 4:30; now it's like it used to be at 6

BajaNomad - 5-16-2010 at 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveD
I posted the entire link but the last part did not copy as blue and is not being used for the link. (does anyone knoe why?)

There's a max number of characters that one can hot link.

Not so. It's the characters themselves, not the # of them. The LA Times uses commas in their URL's which this software will not automatically include in making a hotlink. However, if you use this button to insert the link...

...it'll work fine - as it surrounds the link with the [ url] [/url ] brackets (spaces excluded of course).

See the link aided now by this in the original post. Works fine.

-
Doug

Bajahowodd - 5-17-2010 at 04:04 PM

"And where do I find the magic button?" - Cyberfeeb

(Maybe near Froggy the Gremlin's magic twanger?) :lol:

[Edited on 5-17-2010 by Bajahowodd]

nancyinpdx - 5-17-2010 at 05:18 PM

I would go back too, just don't have a passport so I can't. Gotta get off my burro and apply for one.