I hope no one is surprised by this , Why would anyone but the clueless want to go to Cancun or Acapulco with the present state of the Drugwars in Mexico ?
Sure it is beautiful , sure it is fun , and for sure it can be Deadly !
(Reuters) - Fears of drug violence spreading to beaches and colonial towns are driving away tourists and threatening Mexico's crucial tourism industry, already battered by last year's swine flu outbreak.
Gory news reports of daily shootouts between drug cartel hitmen are fueling concerns among North Americans and Europeans that Mexico is increasingly unsafe, even if most of the violence is along the U.S. border, far from top tourist areas.
The number of international tourists flying into the Pacific beach resort of Acapulco, where rival hitmen have fought brazen gun battles in recent months, fell by almost a quarter in the first three months of this year, airport operator OMA said.
International arrivals to the popular Caribbean resort of Cancun fell 4 percent in the same period, according to airport operator Asur. They are peak months in Cancun as many tourists escape from winter at home, and U.S. students traditionally flood Mexico on their "spring break."
Almost 20,000 people have died in the fight between cartels and Mexican security forces. Violence has worsened dramatically since the start of the year, with 1,000 deaths across Mexico in March, the bloodiest month since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006.
Mexico's tourism industry is still likely to grow in 2010 compared to last year, when fears of swine flu emptied beaches, but businesses worry a perception of danger hangs over Mexico that could continue to undermine the industry.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Drug violence scares off tourists to Mexico
Sunday, March 14, 2010
24 killed in western Mexico; 11 in one shootout
Acupulco , not such a nice place to vacation anymore !
A great place to be killed and possibly Decapitated but to hang out for say Spring break , NAH !
El Paso Times
ACAPULCO, Mexico -- A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.
The gunbattle erupted when attackers opened fire on soldiers patrolling the small town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, said Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police. Ten gunmen and one soldier were killed, he said.
Diaz said the shootout broke out in the middle of the day in the center of the town as it was full of bystanders. He said state police were investigating and soldiers had reinforced security.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives.
Thirteen other people were killed in Guerrero in several other incidents before dawn, according to a state police report.
Two decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco. Another man was found shot to death on the edge of the city.
Gunmen, meanwhile, killed five police officers on patrol in Tuncingo, a rural area outside Acapulco. In the same area, police found the bullet-ridden bodies of five other men, including two who had been
Police mentioned no possible motives, and it was unclear if the killings
were related.
Several cartels are fighting over drug dealing turf and trafficking routes in Guerrero. Gang violence occurs almost every day in the state, but Saturday was unusually bloody.
Farther to the south in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, a grenade explosion inside a car killed one man and wounded another. State prosecutors said the dead man was holding the weapon when it exploded.
Investigators believe the victim belonged to the Zetas drug gang and had been about to throw the grenade at federal police offices in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez.
Friday, March 5, 2010
6 die in Valley of Juárez assault: Attackers with AK-47s kill men at ranch
So seeing as spring break is coming up , I have found a wonderful place for everyone to visit !
Check out the description of a few Days activities in the Beautiful City of Jaurez Mexico !
El Paso Times
Six men were shot and killed Wednesday night at a ranch near the village of Praxedis G. Guerrero in the Valley of Juárez.
The gunmen, armed with AK-47s, arrived in a truck or a van and opened fire on the victims at Rancho Nuevo, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office said Thursday.
Killed were Saul Martinez Rodriguez, 40; his brother Ernesto Martínez Rodríguez, 37; Gerardo Hernández Rosales, 37; Julio Ruiz, 60; Victor Manuel Rosales, 37; and an unidentified man in his late 20s.
Investigators counted 30 bullet casings and seized a black Ford Ranger with Texas plates. It is unclear whether any of the victims are from Texas.
Six other homicides were reported Wednesday in the Juárez area.
Murders continued Thursday afternoon when two men were killed within 90 minutes near the village of Porvenir across the border from Fort Hancock.
At 2:21 p.m., Benito Favela Montoya, 32, was found shot to death on the side of a road.
About 3:50 p.m., Fidel Montoya Favela, 69, was fatally shot with an assault rifle in a home, police said.
The valley, east of Juárez, is a battleground in the war between the Sinaloa and Juárez cartels for control of the lucrative drug-smuggling corridor.
The control of that corridor has been a topic raised in a drug-smuggling trial under way in U.S. District Court in El Paso.
In other news, a man was unhurt in a Juárez street shooting in which his wife was killed and their 9-month-old daughter was wounded.
Texas police warn spring breakers: Stay out of Mexico border towns
Sounds like a no-brainer , but it still needs to be said .
Mexico is a much worse place to go than some countries that are having major conflicts with Radical Islamists !
(CNN) -- The Texas Department of Public Safety took the unprecedented step Thursday of telling college students not to visit Mexican border cities during spring break because they are just too dangerous.
Several universities issued similar warnings last year, but this was the first time the Texas law enforcement agency had issued the specific advisory against travel, said spokeswoman Tela Mange. In the past, she said, Texas authorities had just urged students to be careful.
"Because of the increased violence, we decided to step it up a little bit and say, 'Parents, bad idea,'" Mange said.
DPS Director Steven C. McCraw said, "Parents should not allow their children to visit these Mexican cities because their safety cannot be guaranteed."
The State Department renewed a travel alert to Mexico last month, citing increased violence in the country -- border areas in particular.
"Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua ... and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution," the alert says.
