Safety of Mexico

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Here is an article in the SA paper on that same subject: Violence tears 'sister cities' apart - San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Express News has been writing some really informative in-depth articles on the border/Northern Mexico situation. I've run across several of their articles when doing web searches on the situation, and their articles seem to provide a lot more detail and background than my local sources. I've been very impressed.

Audrey

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevink http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/op...urs4.html?_r=1

Quote:

Eight of the top 12 dealers in Mexican crime guns are nestled profitably near the border, according to The Washington Post, which spent a year penetrating some of the data secrecy that Congress has enacted to protect the gun industry.

They've recently been doing some local TV stories on how many of the guns are coming from local businesses, including the local store of a major national sporting goods chain. I didn't quite catch all the details, but yes - it looks like there are some major loopholes for tracking these high-powered guns versus handguns.

And now one of the local county's sheriff department is loading up on assault rifles for themselves.

Audrey

[Dranoel]

... and all of this caused by the U.S. demand for drugs. What with our critical financial situation, the utterly failed "war on drugs", the majority of U.S. crime fueled by drugs and the corrupted/struggling governments of our neighbors south to Columbia that will likely require more U.S. attention and ll with no winning U.S. strategy - maybe we should consider another course of action? Legalize/regulate/tax the product & care for addicts so they don't rob folks to fund the crime syndicates? I'm no expert... but come on!

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dranoel ... and all of this caused by the U.S. demand for drugs. What with our critical financial situation, the utterly failed "war on drugs", the majority of U.S. crime fueled by drugs and the corrupted/struggling governments of our neighbors south to Columbia that will likely require more U.S. attention and ll with no winning U.S. strategy - maybe we should consider another course of action? Legalize/regulate/tax the product & care for addicts so they don't rob folks to fund the crime syndicates? I'm no expert... but come on!

Makes way too much sense, therefore it can't happen.

Ha

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dranoel ... and all of this caused by the U.S. demand for drugs. What with our critical financial situation, the utterly failed "war on drugs", the majority of U.S. crime fueled by drugs and the corrupted/struggling governments of our neighbors south to Columbia that will likely require more U.S. attention and ll with no winning U.S. strategy - maybe we should consider another course of action?

Paraquat.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westernskies Paraquat.

That would not exactly be a new course of action. Also, it would just raise the price and shift production into areas where it may be harder for us to throw our weight around.

End result might be much more crime and corruption.

Ha

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dranoel ... and all of this caused by the U.S. demand for drugs. What with our critical financial situation, the utterly failed "war on drugs", the majority of U.S. crime fueled by drugs and the corrupted/struggling governments of our neighbors south to Columbia that will likely require more U.S. attention and ll with no winning U.S. strategy - maybe we should consider another course of action? Legalize/regulate/tax the product & care for addicts so they don't rob folks to fund the crime syndicates? I'm no expert... but come on!

A simpler solution would be to give the drug addicts a stipend and send them to Mexico and legalize METH, Heroin LSD, Barbiturates, Amphetamines, Ecstasy, Cocaine, crack, PCP and any other drug that is developed in Mexico - bring the demand closer to the supply. This reduces everyone's cost from the addict to the governments'.

The utterly failed concept of curing drug addiction needs to be relegated to the dust bin of history. Send the addicts to Mexico and give them what they want.



Health care is less expensive there also.

I think the advertising industry will be able to come up with some good campaigns to encourage people to go.

[Surfdaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dex The utterly failed concept of curing drug addiction needs to be relegated to the dust bin of history. Send the addicts to Mexico and give them what they want.

We could arrange a 1 for 1 swap, for every addict we send to Mexico, an illegal alien in this country that is a clean hard worker gets citizenship. That's amnesty I could rally behind.

[grasshopper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfdaddy We could arrange a 1 for 1 swap, for every addict we send to Mexico, an illegal alien in this country that is a clean hard worker gets citizenship. That's amnesty I could rally behind.

Best idea yet. But let us secure the border first.

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grasshopper Best idea yet. But let us secure the border first.

...to keep all those deported druggies from sneaking back in and taking the jobs of the hardworking illegals we traded for.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westernskies ...to keep all those deported druggies from sneaking back in and taking the jobs of the hardworking illegals we traded for.

The prospect of spending (a short) life in some Mexican prison might just cure a lot of addicts.

Ha

[kcowan]

Try to convince anyone to live in Juarez? The drugs are enroute from Colombia and need to be snared just before they get to the US. They are not as readily available throughout the country as they are in the US.

[packrat44]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westernskies ...to keep all those deported druggies from sneaking back in and taking the jobs of the hardworking illegals we traded for.

Prostitution and burglary appears to be the "job" of chose by hard core druggies. Druggies are adverse to hard work.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by packrat44 Prostitution and burglary appears to be the "job" of chose by hard core druggies. Druggies are adverse to hard work.

I guess that's why I worked all those long days for all those years so I could retire early. Lazy worthless bastid. Sort of like all those holier than thou types who are averse to independent thought.

Look, even Pat Robertson gets it.

Pat Robertson Wants to Decriminalize Pot - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

[Onward]

Here's a recent NYT article on the safety of visiting Mexico.

The Mexico Quandary - Safety or Savings? - NYTimes.com

[BTravlin]

Just returned from another wonderful trip to Cozumel. Had several days of great diving and evenings of wonderful restaurants and delicious food. Can't wait to go back in March.

[BigNick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl 159 convicts escape Mexican prison on U.S. border

Meh. Just think how many unconvicted criminals are there running around in that area already. 159 more won't make a lot of difference. Most of these guys will just be getting drunk and hooking up with their girlfriends for a few weeks.

[CoolChange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTravlin Just returned from another wonderful trip to Cozumel. Had several days of great diving and evenings of wonderful restaurants and delicious food. Can't wait to go back in March.

I would love to hear more about your most recent trip since I am considering an extended stay on the island early in the new year. I am hoping to head down late in January and stay through most of February if I can find a cheap rental, schedule w*r& travel accordingly, etc.

[BTravlin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolChange I would love to hear more about your most recent trip since I am considering an extended stay on the island early in the new year. I am hoping to head down late in January and stay through most of February if I can find a cheap rental, schedule w*r& travel accordingly, etc.

Our family bought a condo there May 1st this year after falling in love with the place over the past 4 1/2 years after taking up scuba diving. We had traveled all over the Caribbean and found the people of Cozumel to be the nicest by far of anywhere we've traveled. Cozumel is also a great value with many great low cost lodging options and good, inexpensive restaurants.

Almost all lodging is along the west coast of the island in three separate areas: in town - San Miguel, north of town or south of town. North of town has many condos and several large hotel/resorts. Within walking distance to town but on the far end of walking distance. South of town can be several miles and a $20 one way taxi trip away. Our condo is on the southern edge of town and we can walk to the central plaza in 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. We chose this area because we did not want to have a car and wanted a variety of entertainment and services within an easy walk. We walk all over town until 10-11 pm and have never had the slightest issue.

We dive everyday and the boat picks us up at the pier around 8 am and we get back around 1:30 pm after two tanks. Usually eat some lunch and then spend the afternoon at the pool or exploring town prior to dinner. Go to different restaurants around town for dinner and that back home to relax. Also, we sometimes take the ferry to Playa del Carmen for excursions on the mainland. Costs about $12 pp one way and takes 30-40 for the 12 mile crossing.

Tourism is way off due to the poor economy combined with the nightly news and newspapers repeatedly blaring how dangerous Mexico is. Not true of Cozumel because the island offers limited access by one ferry pier and one airport. Anyway, you should be able to find a decent place to stay at a reasonable price. My condo is already rented for most of Feb or I'd quote you a price.

I would check with this realty company that offers longer term rentals.

LONGTERMRENTALSHP

Luxury condos for sale, commercial properties for lease in Cozumel * Cozumel Capital* luxury residential homes

You can fly direct into Cozumel or sometimes save $200+ by flying into Cancun instead. Adds 3-4 hours travel time and can include nice bus ride, ferry and taxi. Probably costs around $50 pp round trip so be sure to deduct that cost from potential airfare savings.

Also, you can browse the discussion forum here for rentals or post a request describing the ideal rental situation you are looking for.

Cozumel My Cozumel Discussion Forums -> Cozumel Accommodations

or

My Cozumel Community - Index

These discussion forums are also offer a wealth of info on all aspects of the island. Let me know if you have any questions but be advised I'm having surgery tomorrow and probably won't be back online again until Friday or Saturday.

You can often call some of the smaller hotels in town and negotiate a monthly rate. You can try

Welcome to Cozumel, at Suites Bahia in Cozumel México

or

Hotels in Cozumel,Hotel Reservation,hotel booking Cozumel|Vista del Mar

Hope you find what you're looking for. I'm extremely jealous and would love to go back for a month.

[kevink]

We live full-time at Lake Chapala, and as you might expect the local expat community is keenly interested in crime news local and regional as well as the consistently negative reporting about Mexico we see on U.S. television.

A good friend who lives here shares this information:

According to the US State Dept. website, approximately 1 million Americans live in Mexico. Over 22 million tourists visit Mexico each year. Of those approximately 80% (17.6 million) are Americans, according to a Canadian language school website I visited. Out of all of those many millions, 137 have died and of those 48 were murdered or "executed"? With those odds, I'll take my chances in Mexico over almost any American city of even modest size. No wonder I feel so much safer here than there. Even if you doubled or tripled the reported numbers of murders, I'd still feel safer.

Bottom line, IMHO: stay away from the border towns, don't do anything in Mexico you wouldn't go at home and the chances of anything bad happening here pale vs. where you live back home, in all likelihood.