Authorities in Cancún complain that the Spanish hotel chain Oasis has not furnished critical details in the wake of Sunday's execution of a head cashier, who apparently was interrupted by robbers as she prepared the payroll for hundreds of employees over the weekend. The woman was found dead Monday morning in the company's administrative offices, her head enveloped in tightly sealed industrial tape. A post-mortem examination yesterday confirmed that the former Oaxaca resident died from asphyxia.
Under Mexican law, the victim of a money or property crime must file a formal complaint with prosecutors, called a denunciation, to initiate the investigative process. Cancún's police chief told the local press yesterday that legal representatives for the chain have not disclosed how much money they think was taken. The murder victim, María del Rosario Ramis Carrasco, 54, was the chief cashier and on-site accountant for Oasis, and she knew more about its cash operations and daily money management than anyone else, according to investigators. Police told reporters that they believe Ramis Carrasco had an assistant, but they haven't been able to locate her yet.
Several off-duty workers who were interviewed outside the Grand Oasis yesterday told reporters they're frightened, because they're convinced that the killer or killers are part of the hotel staff. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the workers said rumors are flying and that many suspect two employees who were "closely acquainted" with the victim. They said hotel management had strictly warned them to avoid all comments about the incident since they might be called to give a formal declaration to state prosecutors. In Mexico's criminal justice system a declaration is the equivalent of an American grand jury appearance. One employee said hotel bosses instructed workers that if they were called to testify, "we are to tell them that we don't know anything."
Three workers also told the local press that employees still haven't received their last two weeks' pay -- cash that was taken by the robbers during the brutal weekend homicide.
"Cancún has lost it's splendor"
During an unrelated press conference yesterday, Cancún mayor Julián Ricalde Magaña offered a bleak assessment of the region's economy. Saying that Cancún has ceased to be the "splendid vacation center" it once was, with abundant job opportunities, the mayor noted that struggling workers now "scarcely have enough to eat." The mayor spoke after an International Workers' Day parade (May 1).
Ricalde Magaña said that although Cancún is still seen in other parts of Mexico as a major generator of employment, it simply isn't true any more. "We're having problems sustaining jobs, which is going to cause us difficulties in other areas of public life," he admitted, in a thinly veiled reference to Cancún's rapidly deteriorating security. "What we're saying is that people who come here (to work) should be aware that 'the dogs are no longer tied up with sausage'." The expression is a Spanish proverb suggesting one who is accustomed to a life of opulence and ease, as in a dog so used to good things that the owner tethers it with a string of meat instead of rope. In Cancún such days of economic bounty and easily earned money have passed, said the mayor.
"We haven't seen the growth in the hotel industry that we did in the 1980s and 90s, and we have to adjust ourselves to new (economic) realities. That's the message I'm trying to get out." The mayor said that many workers have been forced to turn to self-employment, and some have selected criminal enterprises.
Ricalde Magaña did not address particular urban security threats, including the incipient street violence between Los Zetas, Los Pelones and Los Matazetas. Nor did he comment on last weekend's execution at one of the the city's largest employers, the Spanish-owned Oasis hostelry, which occurred along prime Caribbean ocean front well inside the green zone, allegedly the city's safest district.
My thoughts: The failure by the Spanish hotel chain which owns and operates the Oasis properties to pay its employees is unconscionable. No matter how much money it lost in the weekend robbery -- perhaps staged by its own staff -- there's got to be plenty more available in its local bank accounts. One can only speculate on the value of all that ocean front property, plus the daily cash flow from room rentals and food and beverage sales. Quintana Roo labor authorities should insist that workers be paid immediately, or shut down the entire Oasis operation in Cancún until they are. Prosecutors should also make it clear to Oasis owners that they're in charge of the murder investigation, not the company.
Cancún hotel exec offers gloomy prognosis for local industry: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/05/cancun-hotel-exec-offers-gloomy.html#more.
Cancún, no longer an oasis for most: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/05/cancun-no-longer-oasis-for-most.html.
Brutal execution at Grand Oasis Cancún: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/05/brutal-execution-at-grand-oasis-cancun.html#more.
So are the workers at these resorts undercover cartel members or hawks now? Are we the tourist safe in the hands of the hotel staff is my question? I know most people won't say anythingover there because of the money we bring in as tourist, but I want to know the truth are we really safe now? In Quintana Roo area that is?
ReplyDeleteYou raise interesting and legitimate questions. One of the purposes of this Blog, especially in so far as the drug war and security issues are concerned, is simply to report the facts. I don't recommend anything to anyone. Everyone is free to make his or her own decisions based upon the facts. Many sites won't give you the facts, for a variety of reasons (which often are fairly obvious). I will, and I do so, every day. But you'll have to decide for yourself how to respond to those facts.
ReplyDeleteHi Ed, I would like to thank you for your reporting. Funny how the travel agency never sent me an info about what happened at this hotel. Seeing as I had already paid in full.
ReplyDelete