I'm not even so much talking about that.. as much as the.. TARGETED CRIMINAL EXTORTION OF TOURISTS that goes on, and ruins countless vacations and the reputation of the area.
A CHICKEN THAT REFUSED TO BE PLUCKED Resisting is painful, and anxiety producing, in itself. It gets your blood pressure up and your pulse racing, I agree there is a short term price to be paid, if you resist extortion. But, have you ever considered the long-term price you may pay, if you don't, and you happen to live here? Let's take traffic stops, for an example. If police get to know you and your car, and that you represent a quick peso to them, you've created an incentive to stop you, more often. If, on the other hand, you become known as a tough nut to crack, they may fore go the pain of dealing with you and cease stopping you for a shake down, as a waste of time. I'll share a story from real life with you. Returning home from an overnight event with two companions, I was stopped, at 10 of a Sunday morning. The police officer said, "You smell of alcohol." I told him I'd been drinking the night before, to which he replied, "That's not good enough." He continued to talk with me, leading me to believe he was looking for a quick $50. When I gave no indication of reaching for my wallet, he said I'd have to come with him to the police station. I got in his car, leaving my friends where they sat, at the side of the road. (They told me, later, that they'd been extremely worried about me, but I'm getting ahead of myself in the story.) As we slowly drove to the police station, several miles away, he spoke several times about how serious this was and what kind of trouble I could be in, which I took as an attempt to raise my anxiety level and induce me to try to buy my way out of the trouble. I didn't bite, and remained neutral and noncommittal in my comments. When we got to the station, he took me into the unit where they administer breath tests. I blew, and the technician showed the officer the result, 0.00 alcohol (I've got a good liver!). The officer frowned, when he saw the result, and led me back to his car. On the return trip, there was no chatter, as had been before and this time he drove at high speed, challenging several traffic lights, in route, as opposed to the leisurely pace we'd kept on the way to the station. He dropped me off at my car, where my friends were still inside, waiting, and then speed away. His visible annoyance at wasting his hour on a chicken that refused to be plucked was my reward.
To address two points, it is obvious they target tourists as evidenced by my being stopped while driving a renter. They now know my New York plated car, and don't hassle me (except for a new guy a couple of months ago). I do not give in when I'm in my own car and they generally give up. I've only bribed a transito once, from my renter, when he didn't give in to my local resident credentials. As to V's valient resistance; you may have made your point, but you did nothing to discourage this same cop from stopping his next victim and you left your friends sitting in your car for what was probably over an hour. Did you ask if they objected to you leaving them? Did you take your car keys with you? Do you see my point? You discomfitted 3 individuals plus yourself and IMHO accomplished little if anything beyond saving 5 or 10 dollars and some future immunity from this one cop. That cop may remember you and not bother with you in particular, but unless you dragged him into his commanding officer's office and demanded an apology from the entire force for his egregious behavior and maybe, just maybe got the poor bastard fired, you've got a net sum of zero in eliminating corruption. And even if he was fired, it would not discourage the next speed Nazi from trying again. Untiil the police, the transitos, the immigration agents and others that provide the interface between government, the law and the general public achieve a living wage, corruption will be unstoppable. These people barely make a living wage, and just by virtue of having to work in Cancun, live in one of the most expensive areas of Mexico. Plus, they live and work within a society that views bribary as a way of life. While I may demonstrate a truly negative reaction to their predatory behavior, underneath it all they have my sympathy.
I STRONGLY disagree with your opinion on that point. The pay is irrelevant, they abuse their power to extort money from (mostly) innocent people. There are countless people in Mexico living on the same or LESS wage than that of the police and other officials. By that argument its OK to steal if your "poor"... so I'll run out and hold up a a bank since I don't have enough to buy everything I want or need and its easier than working another job to earn it. Also, FWIW, the pay for cops in Cancun is better than most in Mexico, due to a doubling of the salary a few years back.... I want to say its something like 8,000 starting now.. but I may be wrong.. but its still irrelevant. I dont know what your definition of a livable wage is, but many people seem to get by on 5 or 6k a month... albeit to a lower standard than you may be accustomed to.
Don't have much to add other than Mexicans pay mordidas too. They pay 'officials' to overlook the lack of permits, to fudge the numbers, to protect what is theirs but open season for others, to jump the line and get service. I am sure tourists are a bigger target, but there is a mordida economy right here without tourists being part of the equation. Mexicans think it's normal.
PASSION FOR THE ISSUE Heat, I just don't see enough "heat" in your post to make me think you've ever had to deal with it. Many of the other posters here have, and you can tell that by the passion the issue raises in them. My struggles through the years, most of which occurred in Kazakhstan, make my blood boil, easily, when I sense that some official is beginning to make a move on me. As I said earlier, one of the first things Mexicans mention, when talking about what's wrong with Mexico, is the prevalence of corruption. That, more than anything, tells me what they really think about it. Human beings can adapt to anything: it doesn't mean they like it.
I knew I'd start a riot with this . IMHO many of those countless people would attempt the same ex-officio fund raising if they could. The solicitation of mordidas is an act presented by and abetted by opportunism. It's not far removed from attempts at short-changing, over-charging, extra long taxi rides and all the other schemes that are exercised with great regularity down here, particularly on gringos and tourists. Frankly, even though I have little affection for them, riding around in a uniform with an upholstered plastic pot on my head , mounted on a motorbike inhaling bus fumes all day and/or night is not worth 605 USD and shouldn't be paritied with working in a call center or waiting tables. Same goes for those charged with protecting Mexico's borders. The responsibilities are huge and honest officers lives are complicated and confounded by their corrupt brethern. Not worth the 605 either.
We have an upper middle class gringa visiting us right now. I asked her what she thought about this situation and she said, in part: "My vacation time is very scarce and very valuable. I'd rather pay a bribe and be done with it than spend more time going down to the station and dealing with a ticket." It was also interesting that she was surprised when I made the point to her that corruption in the police is tolerated here until there's a paper trail. That is, everyone looks the other way when a cop asks a tourist for a bribe, but once a ticket is generated, once a paper trail is created the system straightens out. From what I've seen that kind of corruption is tolerated here only so long as it exists outside of public records, off the books. My friend, and probably a lot of tourists, would be afraid that if she refused to pay the bribe then she'd be arrested and brought to the police station where ALL the cops would be in on the corruption and would all be against her. I think a lot of tourists are afraid of cops, they are afraid that the whole system is corrupt. They don't understand that the corruption, for the most part, thrives only outside the "system." As for the point about officials abusing their power and being underpaid I think everyone is right. The pay is crap in many govt agencies. Right now cops in Cancun make more than INM agents, cops got their pay doubled a while ago. INM hasn't given a raise in 3 years. I make more per hour than my husband does per day!! But one of the more important issues is that people in Mexico EXPECT someone working for the govt/police to abuse their power. My husband has had tons of Mexicans say things to him like "having that job gives you the chance to get a lot of money on the side." And when he tells them that he doesn't take bribes they often either don't believe him or they think he's crazy (or stupid) for not taking advantage of his position. Lots of Mexicans see people who work for the Govt as "lucky" because they have the opportunity to be corrupted and make some extra money. The corruption starts in the cradle here, it's not just in government, its in the people.
But that doesn't make it right.... But that doesn't make it right.... But that doesn't make it right.... ---------------- If some of you want to cut the officials a little slack for taking "tips".... fine... suit yourself. But when we are talking about the TARGETED CRIMINAL EXTORTION OF TOURISTS who are threatened with arrest if they don't pay large sums of money... THAT IS ROBBERY! It's no different than if I went up to someone and threatened to cause them harm unless they give me money! Its ROBBERY.. plan and simple!
