Forget Cartel Problems

[moisheh]

For years on this and other forums people have posted that they are afraid of travel in Mexico due to cartel crime. Not lately. The problems are all the Lefties demonstrating. First we had the general public upset over what happened with those poor students. Now the Oaxaca teachers are at it again. Toll booth takeovers , closed the entrance to a Pemex refinery, setting buildings on fire and more. In one community the local teachers removed all the posts from parking meters as they thought that meters are a privatization of public streets. There are a lot of states or municipalities that are now unsafe. Too many!

[Wm_Elliot]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Everrrrybody's an expert except people who live here.

You are ALL wrong. 100%

How's that for being blunt?

Back in 1986 I had Mexican nationals tell me that Mexico was dangerous, people there would kidnap and drug children and sell their organs. That was bad advise, not unlike what you're dishing out.
Since that bad advice I've had many enjoyable trips to Mexico and I hope for many more.

[RonYVickie]

I will call the U.S. State department for you and pass on your latest edict

Thanks for that ! If they want to talk to me, I'm in Puerto Vallarta, out of winter. RYV

[mexicoruss]

darbone85737 wrote:
The drug war in San Carlos, Penasco and Kino is largely between Viagra & Cialis for the grey gringos

Love this post. So true. As a traveler in Mexico 15-20 thousand miles a year I think I may have some knowledge or experience. I must be super lucky to be alive after all I have been through reading the above post. Mexico is my mistress, don't say mean things about my girl. I will continue to love her, warts and all.

We are heading off to Guerrero Negro in a few days, then on to the awesome State of Sinaloa onto Chihuahua. In November I take a group of 16 to Guadalajara, then to Queretaro, San Miguel Allende, Mexico City and back to Peñasco. (pray for me) I love this place and I will continue to travel her - If you want to see the USA - see the USA. If you want adventure and you want to see a world that is calmer, gentler, more real.....Mexico it is.

Less Rv's in Mexico? Yes! Overall the RV community has shrunk. When I was heading caravans there were reported 6.5 million rvs on the road at any given time in the USA....that's down by a few million now. RV travel is down everywhere. Is tourism down? - NO! The tourism industry is alive and well even here in Ole Mexico. Fly ins - Bus ins are all showing strong growth. We have missed an entire generation of RV travelers, largely because of the crappy economy of the USA. Oh sure you have cheap gas...but at what cost worldwide?

Stay home....or visit my girl. The choice is yours and only yours. I like her and I am staying here.

[darbone85737]

The drug war in San Carlos, Penasco and Kino is largely between Viagra & Cialis for the grey gringos

[moisheh]

Demonstrations and riots beget violence. The images of the teacher and student revolts are not much different than the images of Islamic demonstrations. Or even the Arab Spring. As for comparing Mexico to Detroit or Chicago: How many RV'rs have Detroit as a destination? Would you have camped in Detroit during the riots in the 60's? Or would you have camped in LA during the Watts riots? Of course much of Mexico is as safe as anywhere else but it seems like there are more off limit areas than in other years. Patzcuaro and Oaxaca are our 2 favorite places. I would not travel to either today! San Carlos, Penasco and Kino are places where nothing is happening. Maz seems to be not much different than other years. I would not travel through Guerrero!

Moisheh

[Cloud_Dancer]

It's dangerous right here, deep in the heart of TEXAS. I'm singing (on the inside)
".....traigo mi quarenta-cinco, con sus quatro cargadores......"

[hypoxia]

It doesn't matter what country, including the USA, getting in the middle of civil unrest can be hazardous. I wandered into the middle of a demonstration in Mexico City once, that taught me a valuable lesson. I stood out like a lighthouse on a dark night & captured a lot of unwanted attention.

[dons2346]

I would rather go to Mexico than Detroit or Chicago. Been going to Mazatlan for 15 years, never a problem. Been going to Puerto Penasco for 8, never a problem.

We love the Mexican people and find them honorable and a proud people.

Headed to Puerto Penasco in a couple of weeks, can't wait

[edbehnke]

mexico mexico. as a mexican friend says: 'don't try to understand us, just love us.'

have been going to mazatlan for years, come on down. never had a problem other than some spring breaking and a flat tire.

[rockhillmanor]

You are ALL wrong. 100% How's that for being blunt?

To each his own. NO one has the right to tell anyone whether or whether not they should RV anywhere just because you say so. :R

This forum is for 'everyone' to discuss RV'ing in Mexico and South America. To discuss why or why not, questions, opinions, their experiences etc.

And lately most don't even want to post here anymore because of a select few telling them they are wrong because they say so and their opinion is the one and only correct one. :R

[moisheh]

I must disagree with MW. When you are walking in downtown Oaxaca and a riot starts will you be immune to being hurt. Have you ever seen a riot? Have you seen the look of rage on the rioters faces? Do you remember what happened in Oaxaca a few years ago? Will I just show them my tourist visa or my Good Sam card and I will get a pass? Political riots are damn scary. Far more dangerous than cartel activity. Regardless of anyone's reassurances that all is good most tourists will just look elsewhere. There are hardly any RV'rs in Mexico the past few years and that amount is shrinking. However Canadians are flocking to Cabo, Cancun and a few other places BY AIRPLANE.

Moisheh

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Everrrrybody's an expert except people who live here.

You are ALL wrong. 100%

How's that for being blunt?

Normalistas and radical students do not target tourists. They are dreamy-eyed Marxists who believe socialism is the cure for all things. They hijack buses, fight with the police, occupy school buildings and when they feel it's necessary burn down the government offices in the state capitols. Hey wait a minute isn't that something like People's Park, and Mario Savio in the sixties?

Sicarios and secuestreros (kidnappers) do not target foreigners because there is not enough money involved and it always brings down an avalanche of police and army.

The problem is ineffective police. A vacuum. Some are in the employ of the cartelistas and the rest are terrified to respond to a crime or even to patrol.

This caused and still causes a vacuum. Dodge City without the Earp brothers, and Doc Holiday. The police have radios so when they hear about a problem, they can turn on lights and siren and go Code 3 the other way.

The more people the cartelistas can get hooked onto cristal the more they will rob and the less pressure will filter it's way to the Jefes de plazas. It's the petty robbers, the petty car jackers, the petty thieves that cause all the problems for tourists. Most of them are supporting drug habits.

Granted, if you carefully time your travel and manage to thread your way down countless boulevards and intercept a normalista demonstration, the crowning acheivement would be to bulldoze down the center of the street pushing demonstrators aside. THEN you might find yourself in hot water.

Mexico has NEVER had good police. But I can say this: The SSP of today are about a hundred times more effective then the old PJF. It's the always have been flaky Policia de Municipios that have gone TOTALLY belly-up performance wise.

By the way, the posting I made here early today is the SOLE bit of criminal news I have heard in quite awhile. Are there stacks of reports out there on the internet, mile-long threads of criminal chronicles regarding crimes against tourists that I have been missing. Or is this subject a mouse that is trying to roar?

[Wm_Elliot]

People who visit Mexico (not counting jets & ships) are a special crowd; not timid, not scared, willing to think for themselves and weigh the pros and cons.
Mexico has never been an easy country to tour; if it's not cartels, it's crime or corruption. I've been touring on and off since 1986 and there is always some reason to worry....after some time it gets easier.
Every time I've toured in Mexico I come back alive and unscathed, and I can't wait to go back again.

[Dog_Folks]

For anyone who cares about a well balanced article with specific regions can find it here:

State Department Advisory

Everyone has to make their own decision. It is a fact that Mexico, overall, has a much higher crime rate than the U.S. so I will not be visiting.

But more importantly, I am not done seeing what the U.S. has to offer. I want to get that done first.