Tulum, Quintanta Roo, Mexico
22 de Novmimbre de 2009
The week that I left home for Mexico there was an article in the local newspaper with this headline: 14 BEHEADED BODIES FOUND IN ACAPULCO.
I want to use the word Sensational to describe this, but even that word is insuffiencent. What a gross injustice it does to Mexico and to Mexicans.
The thrust of the article was that 14 bodies had been found, all beheaded, but a close reading would tell you that it didn´t actually happen IN Acapulco, but nearby, in a much smaller community. Yes, there were beheadings, but this was yet another in a LONG list of horrors that have befallen people who get involved in the drug cartels. These beheadings, these nasty, nasty drug deals, not only horrify Americans, but Mexicans as well. BUT THEY DO NOT HAPPEN TO TOURISTS.
As a result of this type of yellow journalism plastered all over foreign newspapers is that the average joe tourist in Iowa is just plain staying away. Yes, it IS true that Guererro, the state in which you´ll find Acapulco, is one of the most dangterous in the country, but THE TOURIST IS NOT THE TARGET, nor is the average Mexican.
Last spring, when the Swine Flu first emerged, it was Mexico that all eyes were on. There were cases in the USA and in the rest of the world, but it was Mexico that bore the brunt of the damage. Mexico was at center stage. And it wasn´t only the American press that presented a grim pictuer. I was in Peru at the time and Peruvian headlines were in a panic. All flights were cancelled to and from the country. Each day a new report would tell of another infected person who´d just come from Mexico.
Mexican health occicials did what they thought best at the time. The country virtually shut down for two weeks. Almost all restaurants closed. People were laid off. A local friend lost his business as a result of this. He was never able to financially recover from the shut down.
And tourists stayed away by the hundreds of thousands. Spring into summer, and then autumn. Tourism was at an all time low. By summer whole resorts had shut down. People were laid off and many have note been able to get rehired.
2009 was not kind to Mexico.
Savvy travlers, of course, knew otherwise. What did a drug cartel have to do with the average tourist? Nothing! Did tourists get H1N1 by visiting Mexico? Yes, but probably more likey now, now that we know about transmission. so tourists did come and are returning., but probaly not in the numbers to totally rebuild the Mexican tourist infrastructure. That will take time.
And why? Because world press had nothing better to write about than sensationalized stories that do little more than scare people away.
I´ve been a long time visitor to Mexico. Not once have I had a problem. Not once have I been physically assaulted, robbed, shot at or caught in a crossfire of rival gangs. I take the usual precautions, ask a lot of questions, and watch my back.
One thing I won´t do is give in to fears. I love Mexico and have always made it my mission to to inform others of its safety. And I´ll make it my mission to return again, and again, and again....
It is, after all, my adopted home.
22 de Novmimbre de 2009
The week that I left home for Mexico there was an article in the local newspaper with this headline: 14 BEHEADED BODIES FOUND IN ACAPULCO.
I want to use the word Sensational to describe this, but even that word is insuffiencent. What a gross injustice it does to Mexico and to Mexicans.
The thrust of the article was that 14 bodies had been found, all beheaded, but a close reading would tell you that it didn´t actually happen IN Acapulco, but nearby, in a much smaller community. Yes, there were beheadings, but this was yet another in a LONG list of horrors that have befallen people who get involved in the drug cartels. These beheadings, these nasty, nasty drug deals, not only horrify Americans, but Mexicans as well. BUT THEY DO NOT HAPPEN TO TOURISTS.
As a result of this type of yellow journalism plastered all over foreign newspapers is that the average joe tourist in Iowa is just plain staying away. Yes, it IS true that Guererro, the state in which you´ll find Acapulco, is one of the most dangterous in the country, but THE TOURIST IS NOT THE TARGET, nor is the average Mexican.
Last spring, when the Swine Flu first emerged, it was Mexico that all eyes were on. There were cases in the USA and in the rest of the world, but it was Mexico that bore the brunt of the damage. Mexico was at center stage. And it wasn´t only the American press that presented a grim pictuer. I was in Peru at the time and Peruvian headlines were in a panic. All flights were cancelled to and from the country. Each day a new report would tell of another infected person who´d just come from Mexico.
Mexican health occicials did what they thought best at the time. The country virtually shut down for two weeks. Almost all restaurants closed. People were laid off. A local friend lost his business as a result of this. He was never able to financially recover from the shut down.
And tourists stayed away by the hundreds of thousands. Spring into summer, and then autumn. Tourism was at an all time low. By summer whole resorts had shut down. People were laid off and many have note been able to get rehired.
2009 was not kind to Mexico.
Savvy travlers, of course, knew otherwise. What did a drug cartel have to do with the average tourist? Nothing! Did tourists get H1N1 by visiting Mexico? Yes, but probably more likey now, now that we know about transmission. so tourists did come and are returning., but probaly not in the numbers to totally rebuild the Mexican tourist infrastructure. That will take time.
And why? Because world press had nothing better to write about than sensationalized stories that do little more than scare people away.
I´ve been a long time visitor to Mexico. Not once have I had a problem. Not once have I been physically assaulted, robbed, shot at or caught in a crossfire of rival gangs. I take the usual precautions, ask a lot of questions, and watch my back.
One thing I won´t do is give in to fears. I love Mexico and have always made it my mission to to inform others of its safety. And I´ll make it my mission to return again, and again, and again....
It is, after all, my adopted home.
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