Considering that school teachers in Durango are handing over pay and farmers handing over cows, I don't think this strategy will work either.
I just spent a few days in Boca del Rio/Veracruz and man, there is a lot of wealth there. Couldn't believe turnaround in the triathlon was the Hotel Lois! Geez! Didn't see blood or bullets (though I was going fast each vuelta). You guys are just starting to see violence up there - has the CDG made a bid for Veracruz? Seems like most of the shootouts are miliary vs Zeta. With El Chapo rumoured to be hiding out in Tabasco I have to wonder how much longer the peninsula has left. I think my tipping point will be narcomantas. If/when they arrive, that will be my sign to pack up the family and move out. Guate is looking very concerning though and I'm watching it closely.
As far as restaurants go, I don't know what you mean by being "unsafe," un less it is the chance that you could be an innocent victim in a shooting. But I would imagine that the potential targets (cartel heavies) for a revenge shooting, would be eating in a better restaurant in the first place, so go figure. On top of that, it has long been known that restaurants are a favorite way for the cartels to launder money, and its been that way for decades. Sort of brings sense to the question of why there are so many restaurants in all of Mexico (not just Cancun) with seemingly no patronage to speak of, and yet they remain open, year after year. Kathy Caribe, I think the Zetas are pretty much unrivaled here, so we never hear of any violence. The incident to which you refer is the first one I have heard about in all my 6 years here. But last week the military got 5 more in La Antigua, just to the north of Puerto Veracruz.....so that is now a second clash, in less than 2 weeks. However, what concerns me more, is when the (probable) revenge starts, and the Z's are notorious for this. Will it be just against the military? Or will innocents be the victims? If there is a crackdown and revenue is lost, how will they make it up? Kidnappings and carjackings? Time will tell. I have to admit...I had become rather complacent, here in Veracruz, over the years. Maybe y'all in Cancun are more vigilant about where you go and when. Makes me glad I do not have to work every day and therefore have a schedule or routine that I have to follow. The advantage you have is that you are but one person in a sea of foreigners, so you are not as easily singled out. But this also makes the case for politeness and restraint when a Mexican pisses you off. You never know who you're talking to, when you (say) chew out the plumber for flooding your bathroom floor!
"Casas Geo, accused municipal police in Pesqueria of kidnapping 18 masons and 1 engineer from a construction site last week and turning them over to an unnamed criminal group. Casas Geo sources said that the kidnapping was in retaliation for the firm’s refusal to pay extortition demands for permission to work in Pesqueria." The construction workers are still missing... (this is from Monterrey)
Hmm, Kathy says there´s trouble in Pesqueria, again. Where? Pesqueria, about 40 Km from the center of the city of Monterrey, in Nuevo Leon State, northern Mexico. Is that near Cancun? Just 3058 Km- drive hard and you could get there in, perhaps, three days. Don´t imagine I´ll make the drive, then. Rather sit in the sand here, and look out at Isla Mujeres. ______________________
I hope you didn't hurt yourself finding out where Pesqueria was as I specifically stated in is around Monterrey in my post. Boy you can be nasty. My point, which you are either being completely obtuse to or something else, is this is an example of what happens when you use your advice of Just Say No to extortion. here's another. Except this time the slaughter included innocent folks out for a beer. 27 dead at a bar in Monterrey because the owner wouldn't pay (your advice to those being extorted). » Por venganza, realizan matanza indiscriminada en el Sabino Gordo | Periodico Crucero
40 people have been shot and or beheaded etc in the space of 24 hrs this weekend in Monterrey, Mexico City and Torreon. The violence is out of control and I hope its stays out of Cancun.
I'm sure the authorities in Monterrey are wringing their hands over how to put a stop to the crimes being committed there, as undoubtedly are the people who must live there, but it's still no closer to Cancun than it was when Kathy wrote about the trouble there- 1,900 miles- further than Chicago is from Los Angeles.
