Green Angels to the rescue
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-hmexang...
By Anna Gorman
Los Angeles Times
August 6 2003
ROSARITO, Mexico ? Orlando Esquivel and Javier Rivera saw the family standing next to their car on the side of Baja California's coastal highway.
Lights flashing, they pulled over and jumped out of their bright green Dodge Ram. Esquivel squatted to replace the car's flat tire while Rivera
shielded the family from traffic.
Minutes later, the men were finished, back in their truck and headed down the road, without having received even a peso. Esquivel and Rivera are
Angeles Verdes, or Green Angels, members of Mexico's free roadside and rescue service. Defying the myth that Mexico's highways are unsafe for
travelers, the mechanics patrol the roads in repair trucks and work at lightning speed -- jump-starting cars, replacing broken parts and fueling empty
tanks.
Angeles Verdes, who work part time, earn about $400 a month plus tips, which requires most to hold second jobs. Still, they take pride in helping
distressed travelers. One calls it therapy. More than a few say it is addictive. Esquivel says he would rather be on Mexico's highways than anywhere
else in the world.
"When I have vacation time, I don't take it," said Esquivel, who has been a Green Angel for 12 years. "I come out to the highway."
The recent death of the head of Baja California's office, however, reminded Mexico's Green Angels that road work is also risky. A car struck and
killed Rafael Medina, 70, near Rosarito on June 27 as he was helping a Torrance, Calif., couple whose van had a faulty alternator. The accident
occurred days before Medina's 25th anniversary as a Green Angel.
Since the Green Angels began patrolling the roads four decades ago, about 60 of the mechanics have been killed in road accidents, according to tourism
officials.
"When our families give us goodbye kisses, they don't know if we're going to return," said Juan Antonio G?mez Rasc?n, a Green Angel who works out of
the Ensenada office. "But we're doing what we love."
G?mez said he is always on the job, even when he is across the border in the United States. He remembers going out to eat in San Diego with his wife
and daughter and noticing a man outside the restaurant looking under the hood of his car. G?mez helped him find and install a new battery.
The Mexican government started the roadside service in September 1960 to counter negative perceptions about driving in Mexico. The Green Angels, which
operate on an annual budget of $13.3 million, provided mechanical assistance to more than 115,000 motorists last year. Many travelers, from the United
States and Mexicans alike, don't know about the Green Angels until they need them.
Baja Information, a travel information service based in San Diego, assures tourists that driving in Mexico is no more dangerous than driving in the
United States. But Gina Cord, president of the service, said she advises visitors to avoid traveling at night and to buy insurance. She also tells
travelers to look out for the Green Angels. "They've been doing marvelous work for years and years," she said.
Many U.S. citizens, however, still fear driving in Mexico and worry about encountering rough roads, bandits and corrupt police officers. Sometimes,
tour groups ask Green Angels to escort them to their destination.
The Automobile Club of Southern California offers its members maps and insurance for driving in Mexico, but doesn't provide roadside service outside
the United States. "Baja California is a popular destination for lots of Californians, particularly from south California, so anything that makes it
safer for Californians to visit Mexico is certainly welcomed," spokesman Paul Gonz?les said.
Green Angels are on the road every day of the year and increase their patrols during Spring Break and holiday weekends. The way the story goes, the
green-clad mechanics got their name after a Canadian family whose vehicle had broken down in southern Baja told them they were like angels who had
dropped out of the sky to help.
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