Kidnapping, Murder, and Drugs in Popular Mexican Destinations | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
juarez experience...... (none / 0)
i used to go to juarez almost every week when i lived in el paso.  i generally found the town to be a very friendly place even in some of the very poor sections of town.  the drug dealers never seemed to bother anyone unless you were competing for their turf or you went looking for trouble.  the ONLY group i ever had a problem with were the mexican cops.  they are 100% nothing short of gangster extortionist criminal thugs.  i had to pay bribes several times to prevent from going to jail for things as small as a seatbelt ticket.  a words to the wise.....stay as far away as possible from any mexican police you see if you value your freedom....

by sfinneganus on 03/04/2009 08:09:37 PM EST

Yup! (none / 0)
The same exact thing happens with us. We had to pay off a cop who threatened to throw us in jail for a minor traffic violation.

So having a corrupt police force AND violent drug cartels does not make the situation in Mexico any better.

by AnaKasparian on 03/04/2009 09:09:51 PM EST

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Travels. (none / 0)
I am going to a few cities in Baja that are on the updated travel advisory list in two weeks. I am a bit more nervous that I was with the new warnings, I just hope we will be far enough out of town and where pot can't grow (desert) that there won't be any trouble. We plan to drive through the cities and stop for no one, not even the police.

At least we have permission from a rancher to stay on his land- one less person to shoot at us! Heh. (he's a nice guy, but will shoot any trespassers on his land. Can't hardly blame him at this point.)

by jazzchic on 03/04/2009 10:00:56 PM EST

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Hmmm... (none / 0)
Just be safe jazzy...and never be alone. Not even to use the bathroom. Okay I'm kidding about that. But just be careful. Mexico is my favorite country so it would be hard for me to say I would avoid traveling there. You just have to keep a look out.

by AnaKasparian on 03/04/2009 10:27:35 PM EST

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I went to Puerto Vallarta last year (none / 0)
and had a blast. I hear the beach towns are still pretty safe. I felt safe the entire time. This crime-spree really bothers me as well because Mexico's such a great country and I've just started traveling there.

I want to go to Mexico City because, I hear it's such a hip and fun place with great food and people but it's.just.too.damn.dangerou s.

Stay safe and have fun, Jazzchic!

by dclawyer06 on 03/06/2009 10:25:09 AM EST

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Lucky (none / 0)
Have fun Jazz and don't let all this Kasparian fear mongering ruin your fun.  Last year I traveled around Baja during a number of advisories and had a great time.  Look ma I'm alive - the evil drug-crazed Mexicans didn't kill me!  Obviously, you should be careful and I wouldn't recommend camping on beaches in remote areas, but personally I'd be more worried about the rattle snakes.

I don't know where in Baja you're going, but I would definitely recommend traveling south of Ensenada and head to the beach where you will find a number of cool little villages (Puerto Santo Tomas in pic below) and super killbassa surf spots even if the water's freezing.  Then again the roads are pretty rough so make sure you're riding American strong - USA!  I think Dave recommended this to me at the time and I was glad that I got out of the Tijuana-Ensenada area, though how can you not love Ensenada.  I also was surprised how friendly people were when the road would end and they'd let us travel through their property/ranch.

I'm curious about the details of this crack down that Ana is calling for?  Looking at our history, most of our drug "crack downs" have been epic failures.  

by rev24 on 03/06/2009 03:14:19 PM EST

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Rev did you take that pic of the snake? (none / 0)
Talk about cojones, that snake is making a bee-line for you. Run next time?

by dclawyer06 on 03/07/2009 01:24:53 PM EST

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I'm not that crazy (none / 0)
I was in the truck DC.  We came across a number of rattlers and other strange desert critters on the dirt roads.  I couldn't believe my friends got out the car to check out the snakes when they were coiled up and hissing.  I grew up fearing rattlers and the last thing I would ever do is mess with a rattle snake.  We had a big argument about whether a snake could strike you if you were standing further away than the length of the snake, but why even risk it?

P.S.  I heard Cenk make some comment on the show yesterday about posting travel pics and his insinuations were definitely not my intentions (merely responding to Jazz's upcoming trip) so I posted a comment below with my view of the drug cartels and violence in Mexico.

by rev24 on 03/07/2009 06:56:52 PM EST

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Kidnapping, Murder, and Drugs in Popular Mexican Destinations | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)