Another killing at Plaza Solare.

The ongoing effort by the Federal Government of Mexico to crush the drug cartels unleashed a wave of violence, largely by causing them to begin engaging in a kind of internecine warfare, and to begin shifting their income producing away from drugs and into extortion, with violence. There is, as a result, far more violent crime now, than say five years ago, as you suggested, Tracey.

However, any "undercurrents" you feel I suspect have more to do with those people you bump into, here, living as you do. So many of those who are better off, in Mexico, got that way through shady associations. It's no wonder that something as innocent as belonging to an upscale sports club, or living in the Hotel Zone, can put you in contact with more of them, creating the exact impression you spoke of, if I understand the situation, in general.

Not a high percentage of Mexicans could afford to follow the Junior sports circuit: those who can, may often have the connections I've referred to; or, through corrupt influences, benefit from those who do.
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V
my contacts thru casablanca sports club are not shady (as far as I know) they are just normal human beings doing normal jobs (doctors, dentists, architects).Obviously none of us truly know what our next door neighbour is up to , and I dont have a radar for spotting dodgy people.

We put our kid thru the junior circuit of tennis through really hard work, a sponsor and grit determination to give our kid as good an opportunity as we can. Many of the other parents do exactly the same .To imply they or us got to that position thru corrupt association I find totally insulting .!

 

Looks like I misunderstood the source of the "undercurrents" you said you were feeling, Tracey.

My recent experiences have made me doubt, more and more, the existence of a true middle class in Mexico, in the sense of their having completely clean sources of income with which to sustain their relatively affluent lifestyle.

And it's not just limited to "unclean" sources of income- there is also the avoidance of payment of just debts on a grand scale, such as through tax evasion, theft of electricity, refusal to pay condo fees, and any number of other ways by which apparently affluent Mexicans are supporting their lifestyle. They are shameless in it, and take pleasure in seeing their photos in these silly, slick magazines devoted to nothing else, that you see lying around doctors' offices and other public places.

Meanwhile, they grind their domestic help with lots of work, and the lowest wages they can manage to pay.

These, too, are not the best Mexico has to offer, they are simply the most visible, with their Hummers, Black Mercedes SUVs and other high dollar cars, their dinners out at expensive restaurants, and their homes in the HZ.
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The head of the Policia Turistico in Playa del Carmen, Mario Gómez Frías, was assassinated today by a group of hit-men.

His colleague was injured and is recovering in a local hospital.

Haven't heard more than that so far...

 

Here is an article in Enbglish about the Playa del Carmen killing: Latin American Herald Tribune - Senior Policeman Gunned Down in Mexico

In either case to with with them or against them is not a god idea.

 

i know you guys dont see it or feel it because you live there...its like growing old...a joint starts hurting, the belly starts growing and you dont notice right away.

The transition that is occurring in Cancun and other Mex Cities that were once really safe is the same thing that happened in other Countries.

This is exactly what is happening, criminals are looking for safe havens bc they can no longer run around in their home towns and what better place to blend in than Cities filled with tourists and folks that migrated from other Cities and Countries. It very difficult to blend in a small town but Cancun super easy.

How much money is generated by the Tourism industry? You may not be able to extort the Aqua or RIU directly but you can squeeze the club owners, taxi drivers, tour companies, bus drivers, etc....its easy money but you have to make your presence known...

If Calderon carries on with the war and joint forces continue to disrupt the cartels normal means of income. The criminals will continue to migrate and they will need other sources to survive until their original sources are restored.

The sad part is that once they establish themselves EVEN if they restore their original sources, sometimes they end up generating so much money from extortion that they dont stop even after procuring new routes for their business, they simply end up with two businesses.

Cancun is already full of this "derecho de tierra" or basically rent fee extortion crap...look around folks, next time you see another vacant abandoned Hotel, Store, Restaurant, Car Dealership....ask yourself was that the economy or a fed up business owner. It happens without seeing it. In Medellin Colombia it was discovered that the BMW dealership was being extorted for years, every single year the local mafia boss would basically drive off with 20 brand new BMW's for him and his liutenants and the management could not do crap bc they lived in Colombia and they knew were they lived. Until this day, BMW has never made an official complaint to the authorities, the confession came from one of they extradited guys that for years drove a BMW for free.

The Hotel Zone will not see it out in the open very often but the City itself will.

And large companies like BMW are not stupid...there has been tons of prosperity in Colombia and ppl are buying new vehicles daily why create a news buzz with this and secondly this type of local news would put their dealerships and staff in danger.

Any company that carries enough weight in a foreign Country has the ear of the head of the commerce department, I am sure that quietly they must be voicing their concerns to the government but it would be stupid of them to do it within local media, employees would be at risk.

Folks, as stated, I travel 2 times per year to Colombia and we party just like we just did in Cancun, hell I am still hurting....We run around all over the place, come home late into the night, get in random cabs, etc...

You simply need to be aware of your sorroundings when you step into a bar, club, fonda, restaurant. My wife thought me how to easily recognize if a shady character happens to be at the same place I am at....now I think I am pretty good at recognizing it and leaving if I do notice it.

The very first time it happened to me was when I was walking into Mangos nightclub in Medellin Colombia 7 years ago. Young guy steps out of a Montero with two gorgeous girls, I was admiring the girls while my wife was noticing that the dude was being escorted by 8 local cops in uniform, hmmmmmm...yeah...

Another time was when an uncle took me to a local pub in Envigado. Place was filled with girls but one particular table stood out to me, table had 5 people, 1 guy and 4 girls. I noticed the table bc the girls looked bored out of their mind. I realized that the dude had to be shady when I noticed that certain men were wearing heaving clothing despite the heat and would only drink beer and ask a lot of questions of you..where are you from, who did you come with, bla bla bla...in the end the bodyguards actually knew exactly who my grandfather was, he was a local business man in Envigado that over the decades ended up procuring two entire City blocks adjacent to the town park which he converted into a strip mall.

Anyway, the point is, most crap happens at night so you can minimize the risk by being aware of your sorroundings and simply leaving....

 

"Deals with the devil" such as this are a piss poor choice for anybody, they almost always end badly- with the demands becoming more outrageous, over time, and the end result the same.

Only a lack of imagination or courage limits one to a single option.

Weak governments find it hard to deal with this kind of threat to public security.

The Mexican people chose to live with the cartels in their midst because they had the option to do so: the cartels are now taking away that option.

Survival of the country- as one in which its own citizens would wish to live- is at stake: how its citizens respond to this challenge will determine the future of the country.

 

V, its not that simple. Those that refuse are dead by the end of the month and often if they may even target your family. You may even be killed if you quit your job instead of being part of it.

Its not the simple, you need to be face to face with extortion to know that they dont give you an option, it is do it or die and if you try to brave or claim that you can't do it bc it's your job bla bla bla, you will die.

Are you saying that if you were the manager of one of those dealerships that I saw in town and an offspring clan of the Juarez Cartel shows up at your office, makes a demand you are going to say f!!! off, I rather die before complying?

I hope not, that would mean you under estimate the underworld....

Most business ppl are chosing to cut their lossess and leave over night....

Its easy to talk tough when not faced with it, its not so easy when you know that without hesitation they will chop you up with a chain saw and send your head to your wife and dump your body out in the open to make a statement.

 

To understand this comment to mean "talk tough" is to illustrate the point I was making: it's easy to fall into a mindset which says, "There's nothing that can be done."

To deal with this threat successfully has to start with people believing they can find, and exercise, alternatives: it requires both imagination, and courage, but everywhere civilization has been established, or survived an existential threat, represents an example of this process. What happened to the Zetas on Isla Mujeres, previously reported on this forum, is anecdotal evidence of the exercise of both imagination, and courage, by the local citizenry when they faced what they perceived to be such a threat.