Things changing for the better

briansue wrote:

I have experienced car bombings, black helicopters flying over our Mexican plants several times.

Very interesting. In 42 years of visiting Mexico and spending at least 4 months in Mexico for each of the past 7 years I have never ever once seen any of these things you mention - bombing - gunships - whatever. Are you sure you were in Mexico and not Honduras or Guatemala? You must be going to the wrong places or simply not paying attention to where it is safe to go. You need to research a bit more before you go so you can avoid these places. We do not go near the border other than the day we cross. And I would not go to Detroit for any amount of money.

It is not a disservice if those with real knowledge of traveling by RV in Mexico provide information to try to help those who are interested in going. We can tell people how to travel safely. You provide a disservice by providing false information and talking about a specific place you have been that many RVers and tourists would never visit for any reason. Tell us where you claim to have seen these things so we can be sure to avoid these areas. You say Laredo Nuevo - no idea what or where that is - possibly you mean Nuevo Laredo or maybe Nuevo Leon??? Have you really been there and don't even know where you are? We have good friends in Nuevo Leon who have never seen the things you mention. We do not go to either Laredo or Nuevo Laredo or most of the other border towns. We know better - as those who read this forum would also know. You do a disservice by claiming that all of Mexico is like or similar to some nasty border town you claim to have been to - but don't seem to even know the name of the town.

OH! By the way - I do not personally know about Detroit - but have been in many US cities where we see many police helicopters flying around all the time. We see news reports on TV with police helicopters flying around US cities all the time. Maybe look up in the air sometime and you will see them too. Car Bombings? You seriously have not seen a report of a car bombing in the US???!!! PLEASE. You have got to be kidding!!!

Well I think you are improving a little. At lease you didn't compare it to LA or Detroit again!
You would do a good service by telling your readers about the strategy’s you use to stay safe in Mexico. Anyone that has stayed a while has a list of things you don't do while in country.
The cartel business model is not straight forward. Many times the cartel will attack its own people to make a point with the government or the people that they are fighting with. This is what happened in Nuevo Laredo, Mx.
I was with a group of people in a minivan entering a manufacturing plant across from the public safety building in Laredo when it was bombed. A Federaly pickup with 50cal machine gun cut us off and drawed the gun on our minivan. Two other trucks loaded with very young soldiers boxed us in on both sides. After a short standoff they let us enter the manufacturing plant parking lot. The last thing I remembered was a little hand being raised above the cement guard shack counter waving us in. The reality in this situation was the 50 cal bullets could have penetrated anything in a 5 mile area. We were left counting on the judgment of a 17 year old boy not to pull the trigger.
When we returned to Laredo, TX that night was told that they had hung decapitated bodies from the civilian bridge just down from the crossing. We could not tell because the cartel had started fires on the river banks on both sides of the river border. At the border our car was seized and we were directed to a safe room until our car could be searched. The US border security cared about our safety, but they also knew it was a cartel trick to create a diversion to hide smuggling.
MM49