| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay 
Violence Means Making Hard Safety Decisions for Tourists
 Bill Bell - ontheroadin.com
December 14, 2010
| | La Penita de Jaltemba, simply known as Las Penita, is a seaside village that perches on the sandy edge of the Bay of Jaltemba along the shores of Nayarit. (Photos by PromoVision) | |
It's breaking my heart folks, but one always has not only to consider your own safety but also the safety of your loved ones when travelling. Yes, I love the place and have so many fond memories of the kind and generous people that live there. They are very special and they do not deserve the kind of bad publicity and fear that comes with territorial drug wars that are getting far too frequent.
Still, extreme violence is starting to disturb my very soul. Five years ago I couldn't even tell you what an AK47 was, never mind what it looked like. Now they show photographs of the weapon in countless news stories of people being shot down in the streets caught in the collateral damage of drug gang violence. Gun fights, where automatic high powered rifles are the weapons of choice.
Yes the local newspapers are careful in describing the victims as those who almost "deserve" to be shot citing that there are "no innocent victims." Those who were wounded were at a "drug gang" party so as tourists will not be scared away. But is it working? Not likely. Who wants to holiday in places where people are being gunned down? Innocent or deserving victims, I certainly do not want to be anywhere near that type of bloodshed.
"Neighbours woke up just after 2 a.m. and thought they heard someone banging on metal cans in the alley. Instead, it was the sound of ten people being shot by one or more gunmen," said the news story.
How close is the violence getting? I look at the addresses given in the news stories and say to myself, "I've walked those very streets." It is becoming very frightening and if you read past the blazing headlines of people with bullet holes waiting in hospital emergency rooms, you can see the headlines of increased home robberies and petty crimes brought about increased use of hard drugs. Also increasing, but only whispered by local news media, is the occasional mugging of unsuspecting tourists.
And to top it off, this is not the first time that these types of drug gunfights have occurred. This kind of story is occurring far too often and unfortunately as a husband and father I have to put my wife and children's safety first. NO! This Christmas we are staying in our retirement home in nice safe La Penita de Jaltemba, Nayarit Mexico.
My home town of Vancouver Canada is just getting far too dangerous for us to visit this holiday season.
(Vancouver and surrounding area has in the past 10 years suffered increased drug gang violence and most recently 10 people were shot and sent to hospital in a residential area where their Vancouver Mayor Gregory Robertson lives.)
The following are just a few of the many headlines from Vancouver newspapers in the past two months.
"Gangster executed Saturday while parked in Metrotown shopping centre parking lot"
"Shooting targets gangster who just returned from Iran"
"Child, 3, in car when father gunned down in New Westminster"
Bill Bell and his wife Dorothy have been living in the Jaltemba area for over five years with their son, Adam and daughter Dylan. Originally from North Vancouver BC, they have been actively traveling and writing about Mexico since 2001 when they circumvented Mexico for the first time to develop the leading website for road travel in Mexico OnTheRoadIn.com. You can reach Bill via email at bill(at)ontheroadin.com.
|
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us