Tourists Airlifted From Gunbattle

Tourists Airlifted From Gunbattle

www.heraldsun.com.au

February 05, 2011 3:34AM

"A GROUP of tourists, including foreigners, were rescued by helicopter after a gunfight erupted over a checkpoint that collects tourist fees, killing one person, local officials said.".....

(visit the link for the full news article)


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The article continues with this note:

"The 17 tourists were visiting the waterfalls of Chiapas in southern Mexico when shooting broke out between rival groups of locals - one supporting the powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the other supporting leftist Zapatista rebels......"

And:

"The tourists included visitors from France, Canada and Argentina, a source at the prosecutor's office said."

And so the saga continues....... Can't wait to pack my bags and head on down there......




www.heraldsun.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Why do people keep going on vacation to Mexico?

There's no excuse for not knowing of the violence down there, even the MSM is reporting on it now.

reply to post by ChrisF231


I was invited to go to Mexico recently and declined the invitation. My friends were all “it’s fine!” “what are you talking about?” “we’ll stay at the resort!” “it’s cheap!”... yeah... I wonder why?

If I’m going to go on vacation I don’t want to feel as if I’m trapped in the resort! I don’t want to feel as if I am risking my life if I set foot outside.

I also think it would just feel damn awkward going to a place where some of the locals are fearful for their lives and are having a hard time making a living, even though I know that tourism helps their economy.... I’d feel like a burden.

reply to post by worlds_away

Even the resorts themselves are not safe. There have many reports of injuries & deaths caused by poor maintenance, cheap construction, and crimes committed by resort staff (most common is rape of female visors by male staff and room robberies).

There was one particularly widely reported case of a young American boy (IIRC he was like 8 or so) who died after he was sucked into the resort pools filter because the resort operators neglected to install a mesh covering. What's worse is that they left his body in the filter for several hours and they only called the police, fire/ambulance, etc that night because they dident want to upset the other visitors.

There's actually a whole website dedicated to these kinds of horror stories: www.mexicovacationawareness.com

reply to post by ChrisF231


Thanks for the link.

I did not mean to imply that the resorts are safer than the streets. I can see how it might have came across that way. It is worrisome having friends and relatives go to Mexico... especially when they are not too concerned about the dangers facing them.

Originally posted by worlds_away
reply to post by ChrisF231

 

I was invited to go to Mexico recently and declined the invitation. My friends were all “it’s fine!” “what are you talking about?” “we’ll stay at the resort!” “it’s cheap!”... yeah... I wonder why?

If I’m going to go on vacation I don’t want to feel as if I’m trapped in the resort! I don’t want to feel as if I am risking my life if I set foot outside.

I also think it would just feel damn awkward going to a place where some of the locals are fearful for their lives and are having a hard time making a living, even though I know that tourism helps their economy.... I’d feel like a burden.

It's not as bad as all that. I'm down here in Mexico right now and have been for 7 months staying with family. So long as you aren't stupid and don't wander around alone in bad parts of town or at night you will be fine. It's not affected everywhere like the media portrays it. It's not all a war ground.

reply to post by ChrisF231


Wow, thanks for that website. My mom was planning a trip to Mexico this summer and my dad made her cancel, now I see why.

reply to post by d00d557


Oh dear, I didn’t mean to imply all of Mexico is a war zone. It would be like saying “Canada has mass flooding”. Well... where? Canada is huge...

As a foreigner though I have really no clue where the good areas are and where the bad areas are. That is why I choose to stay away. Not worth the risk, in my eyes.