... this story may give you pause.
Perhaps these drug war battle zones are fairly isolated, and maybe the fears stirred up by stories like this are somewhat unfair. Nevertheless, they certainly discourage me from considering doing any clubbing in Mexico.
Puerto Palomas is probably an extreme example. However, the Travel section of the same edition of the Washington Post contained this less-than-comforting item regarding travel to Mexico:
"security watch Abductions in Mexico
A new travel alert -- or, to be precise, an updated alert -- was issued last week for Americans traveling to Mexico. The State Department bulletin was concerned primarily with criminal activity in the border towns and warned of an increase in narcotics-related violence, including carjackings and armed robbery. But it was this rather astonishing statement that caught CoGo's eye: "Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007."
Wondering why a stern warning wasn't issued sooner? It's not that media outlets haven't dutifully reported the situation. A February article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, for instance, revealed that "organized, well-financed and violent Mexican kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens visiting communities popular with San Diegans and other California residents." Indeed, according to the paper, at least 26 residents of the San Diego area were abducted and held for ransom last year.
When contacted by CoGo, Arturo Martinez Esquer of the Baja California State Tourism Secretariat disputed media accounts of a crime wave, stating that Baja "welcomes more than 25 million visitors a year. Only a few of those have experienced any considerable setbacks during their stay, and none of them since late November of 2007." He said 380,000 people visited Baja during the recent spring break season and experienced no "major setbacks."
But Newsweek, which also investigated the kidnapping surge, reported in a February issue that 18 Americans have been abducted since Thanksgiving. Some of the victims were seriously injured and others were killed, according to the magazine.
One thing's for sure: Americans visiting Mexican border towns should exercise caution. For information on how to avoid being a crime victim in Tijuana, see the Web site of the U.S. consulate general in Tijuana at tijuana.usconsulate.gov."
[FYI--"CoGo" means "ComingAndGoing," which is the name of the section where this appeared]
I find it interesting that the tourism secretariat doesn't speak of "kidnappings and/or murders" but only of "setbacks."
This comes as no surprise to me. I have known this for years. As the poster on here that claims to know Mexico better than any one else it just reinforces my warning to Chitown and others that Mexican border towns are the worst. It is all about drugs and guns. Guns southbound and drugs northbound. Mexico does not have an efficient communications system. Therefor they use a show of force. Noting like having an AK47 sticking into your car window. Most police are corrupt. They like to rip off gringos. I have paid them off and sometimes when I had the time called their bluff.
Shortly after I was married to my ex Mexican wife we made a trip to visit her parents. We flew to Guadalahara and rented a car. We then drove for 5 or 6 hours SW. Her parents were peon farmers. They lived in a two room house. No gas. No electricity. No car. etc. Not even a horse. I was given a cot to sleep on. One end was held up by a barrel and the other end by a box. I am sure that one of the kids got kicked out to provide me with a bed. Even with a few beers in me I could not sleep. The chickens walking under my bed drove me to the rent a car. Where I slept the rest of the night. So did my wife. They did not even have an out house. Her father did not want the smell of one around. They ate what they grew but their cash crop was MJ.
The next day we drove to a nearby town to visit with my wife's brothers and sisters. While we were driving I noticed 2 Cessna 150's doing circles to gain altitude. They were identical in color and had US registrations on them. I asked my wife to ask her mother what they were doing. She replied crop dusting. Right! Later my wife told me that her mother had warned us to be careful. There had been several killing recently. Drug Wars. You can only sell your crop the the MAN.
The moral of this story is be alert and savy of the Mexican way of life. Will I go to Mexico again? Yes but not to TJ.
This article has important and valid information, but will not keep me from TJ in the future, nor will it cause me to increase my vigilance...nor could it, because during the two times I have been in TJ, my "security alert" has been at the highest level, flashing Code Red. After two times in TJ, it would be presumptuous and silly for me to claim to be an expert. The first time I went was in the middle of the night...I took a cab to the border at 9:00 pm, and was back in my hotel room at the San Diego airport by 2:00 a.m. The second time, I crossed the border right at dusk, and was crossing back into the US as the sun was coming up. I have never seen TJ during daylight hours, which might be a blessing. However, on both occasions, I never walked more than fifteen feet outside...only from the doorway of my last destination to catch a cab to my next venue. During my trip in January, I stayed at a high end hotel in a good part of town. The cab dropped me off in front of Adelita's, and I got a cab in front of the little taquieria where I had a late supper. The only time I walked any disance was when an Internet friend (another gringo) came to get me at Adelita's, and we walked together across the street and maybe 40 feet laterally to Bar Tropical. I have never gone to the "tourist trap" area on Avenida La Revolution, only the "red light district." I would never dream of walking from the border, or from my hotel, to La Zona Rosa, although some do during daylight hours. I'd much rather pay the cabbie $5 for the peace of mind.
When in TJ, I mind my own business, keep my head down, and am very respectful. One sociological note I have picked up in my life...the less money that people have to measure their worth, the more they value respect. In a rich country, a wealthy man doesn't really care if you snub him, or are rude to him...he's got his $20MM stock portfolio to assure him of his wealth. In poorer areas of the US, and definitely in the developing world (based on my experiences in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and now Mexico), you have to show respect constantly, and lay it on with a trowel. And I do. I don't mind giving a $5 to the guy who shows me to a table, and I find it helps.
I am in my middle 40s, and look it. I am 6'2" and about 220. ALthough in fact I have absolutely no physical grace or athletic skill, to someone who doesn't know me, I think I am big enough to persuade them to try the next mark, unless they have some reason to go after me in particular..and I can't imagine what that would be. While practicing law in Chicago as a young man, I learned to keep to myself, and to avoid hawkers who seem to be targeting you. I was raised "up the hill" from East St. Louis/Washington Park, and have been in those districts long enough to know how to carry myself with an attitude that is simultaneously non-provocative and non-wimpy (in other words, come across as neither an asshole nor a victim). I have heard that the TJ police tend to harass the younger guys rather than the older guys. Some say this is because younger guys are more likely to be drunk. Other people say that this is because younger guys are more likely to be intimidated. In any event, I haven't triggered their strike zone yet.
I am not a jeans and t-shirt type (don't own a pair of jeans), so when I am in TJ, like anywhere else, I am likely wearing an oxford dress shirt (with the cufflinks, Chandler), a pair of tan chinos, and a sports jacket. I think I look like a middle- aged nortamericano who is looking to get laid and go home (as is accurate), rather than someone who is looking to score drugs or otherwise cause trouble. I don't think that I look overly affluent, although during post-coital recovery, one puta said to me, "are you a lawyer"? I keep different denominations of bills in different pockets, so I can pay for a $4 dollar bill or tip the waiter a $1 without pulling out the larger bills that I will later use to pay the putas. If I need to assemble my money at one time, I go into the bar's bathroom to do so, with the stall door closed.
Based on the above, I have had no trouble during my first two trips to TJ. Although "past results are no guarantee of future returns", they are the best thing I have to go on. So, I will continue to go to TJ, being very vigilant and keeping the main thing the main thing...PANOCHA.
In all sincerity, I do appreciate and heed the counsel of members of this board who have advised me, either on the board or via PM, of the dangers of going to TJ. Even though I continue to go there, the advise is helpful. On the other hand, I am always amazed by the number of members of this board who talk about "just calling an escort" in the US, as though they are ordering in a pizza. Frankly, if I am availing myself of the services of a prostitute, I feel that I am in much more danger from the police in my home area than in TJ, as the local cops may well arrest me for soliciting a prostitute (one of my colleagues is awaiting trial now...got caught in a CraigsList sting.) And if I get pinched for something in TJ, I am much more likely to be able to get out of it with a $50 or a $100, or even a $20...and no newspaper coverage, no booking and trial, no Supreme Court disciplinary commission, etc.
The problem with a lot of these Mexican-related "reports" is that they usually fail to leave out that a lot of the kidnappings, tortures, and murders are merely among drug gangs and the like. The drug trade is dangerous, but there is no reason IMO to live in fear.
Just like in New Orleans (rapidly becoming the USA's violent crime epicenter) ... there are two types of crime. There's the idiot-on-idiot crime, over things like drug territory, jilted girlfriends, hot summer anger boiling over, muggings. Then there's the idiot-on-tourist crime, and idiot-goes-into-nice-neighborhood-like-a-moron crime, which the police RAPIDLY clamp down on. We've recently seen a spate of the LATTER variety get out of control. Now THAT is something to worry about.
Book Guy, That trouble would not exist in the percentages it does if your government / police force hadn't gone around confiscating guns from law abiding citizens. An armed society is a safe and polite society.
Rikk - thank you for the excellent post.
I have to travel to Mexicali or Monterrey a couple of times a year and my impression is that it is NEVER SAFE. If possible: Never Travel Alone. Always dress like you are too important to shake down or rob. (This protects you from the Federales and the NarcoBoyz, my impression is that most kidnappers are associated with the Federales) Always have someone know where you are and where you are going... (A problem with clubbing activities?) NEVER be alone and intoxicated.
Chitownlawyer's advice is the best: Be quiet and respectful.
And know that the US Embassy will do virtually nothing to help you or to prompt an investigation if something does happen - for reasons that are beyond me, the US embassy staff seems more concerned with not bringing up anything bothersome in meetins with their Mexican counterparts, than it is in helping any American citizen. (Canada squawks pretty loudly when one of theirs is murdered or arrested on phony charges; this happens about once a month)
Mexico has its good points, but operating under the rule of law is not one of them.(unless you are important, or look important...)
Chitown and Quimby--You both appear to be conscientious travelers who take every reasonable precaution. I must admit, you're much braver than I am. Continue to be safe in your travels.
BG--Boy, the situation in the Big Easy sounds pretty rough. I was there last year, and I stayed at a hotel right in the French Quarter and never really strayed from Bourbon Street, keeping primarily between Iberville and Toulouse. There was always a large enough police presence to make me feel relatively safe there. If the crime started to overtake Bourbon Street as well, my periodic trips to New Orleans would become a thing of the past.
OMG...not another gun nut...
Parody's actually just flaming. Don't respond to him.
Once you get out of the border towns and tourist traps things are much better. The general population just wants to do their job and will treat you just like any Mexican customer. On a fishing trip with 3 other buddies to Lago Novio, 100 miles east of Hermasillo MX (100 miles of dirt road). We had another flat tire. No spare left. I hitched a ride into town to get the flat fixed. I was proud of myself. I got the flat fixed for $1.75. On the way back I was picked up by a group of Mexican farm workers. I was in the back of the pickup with about 8 other guys and 1 girl. They were taking turns with her. I was sharing my cigarettes and was offered a turn. I declined.
When I finally got back to our camper, I got more bad news. The jack had broken. Believe me, there was very little traffic on this road. The next car that came by stopped to help us. They had been working their mine and were going home tired. They took me into town and then had one of their sons pick up a hydraulic jack from a garage that they owned and then drove me back to the camper. He waited while we changed the tire and then left. He would not accept any compensation for his time and effort. Yes, I was surprised but it gave me respect for the general population of Mexico. I have more stories, if you want to hear them.
be careful!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the link. I read the Washington Post article and it is certainly chilling. I sometimes worry about safety when I visit Brooklyn ILL strip clubs -- rather isolated, and surrounded by poverty. But I've never heard much to indicate it is unsafe, so I would probably go back. I think Tijuana (location of Adelita Bar) is much safer than Puerto Palomas. That doesn't mean it's risk-free though. Far from it.