The White City's iconic stone cathedral is the oldest in the Americas
Mérida, Yucatán -
The Yucatán peninsula is a huge fist of land jutting up into the Gulf of Mexico. It's hot, flat and dry. Three Mexican states comprise the peninsula: Campeche on the far west; Yucatán, more or less in the middle; and Quintana Roo, along the country's Caribbean shore. The latter area is often referred to as Mexico's Riviera Maya. Geographers will remind us that the peninsula also includes Belize and a small part of Guatemala.
Its safety is a perennial subject of disagreement, especially at a time when so much of Mexico isn't. Statistically speaking, there are plenty of reasons to argue that Yucatán is indeed secure, although that confidence was shaken several years ago when 12 decapitated bodies turned up just blocks from Mérida's premier avenue, Paseo de Montejo. Those victims had been involved with narcomenudeo - street drug sales (U.S. intensely focused on Yucatán security in 2008-09, diplomatic cables reveal).
Last spring, Quintana Roo governor Roberto Borge Angulo went ballistic after the U.S. State Dept. issued a Feb. 8 travel warning for much of Mexico. Texas quickly followed with its own state advisory, specifically directed at spring breakers headed to Cancún or Playa. Borge broke off a European junket and flew to Austin, where he met with tourism officials. They didn't withdraw the warning.
At the time Borge said, "We reject this alert, not only because the entire Yucatán peninsula and the state of Quintana Roo are among the safest areas of the country, but because no North American has ever been harmed in a Q.R. tourist destination." As MGRR pointed out, that claim was untrue.
Now Borge is at it again. In Madrid this week, trying to drum up European business (both tourism and capital investment), he repeated all the usual refrains, arguing that the Yucatán peninsula is the most secure region in Mexico. Not everyone in his state would agree with the proposition, however.
A business leader in Cancún reported yesterday that extortion in the city has increased 200% since 2008. In the year just ended, he said, at least 260 businesses closed their doors as a direct result of extortion or so called "express kidnappings" (Mexico's Caribbean Riviera Maya in the hands of drug cartels and extortionists). The statistics were even worse the year before (300 businesses close in Cancún, Riviera Maya due to 2011 narco extortion, threats).
Extortion is ubiquitous in Mexico's drug war, and is inextricably liked to the executions of victims who refuse, or who simply are unable, to pay. A national hotel association trade group has just reported that extortion of lodging owners in Cancún and the Riviera Maya increased by 70% in 2012. MGRR reported on one particularly brutal case last June, which occurred in Playa del Carmen: Riviera Maya hotel owner refuses to pay the "rent," so extortionists execute him.
To be sure, the Yucatán is a very big place, covering thousands of square miles of terrain. Mérida is definitely not Cancún or Playa del Carmen. But there can be no doubt that organized crime maintains a presence throughout the sprawling peninsula. Recent events have provided unequivocal evidence of that, which Gov. Borge neglected to mention to his interested audiences in Madrid this week:
Mar. 22 - Gov. Borge continued to insist that the Yucatán peninsula is the safest in Mexico, even as its primary tourist destination was placed under special security alert.
Apr. 7 - In an article entitled Yucatán: A Prisoner of Fraud and Extortion, El Universal today reports that commercial extortion and business fraud of all types are rapidly growing in the state, and are its "Achilles' heel." Threats communicated by telephone - many demanding money - have also surged.
Apr. 11 - Cancún proprietors, especially those in the hotel zone, are trapped in a web of business extortion from which there is no escape, other than to close their doors. Monthly payments fixed by drug cartels and organized crime must be "paid religiously," and are subject to increase during boom times or when it appears that the establishment is flourishing. Some who can have opted to leave the country. Nadie se salva de pagar derecho de piso.
Apr. 9 - Yucatán tourism remained flat in first quarter of 2013
Apr. 17 - Highwaymen assault ADO bus on Yucatán peninsula
May 11 - There goes the neighborhood . . .
July 12 - Los Zetas are in Progreso, Yucatán, says local press
July 15 - Cancún and Quintana Roo not under U.S. advisory, but maybe they should be
Routine traffic stop in Mérida yields Sinaloa Cartel "Boss of the Plaza" in Cozumel, Playa del Carmen
Mérida millionairess convicted on all counts in Nicaragua
Yucatán - and half of Mexico - belong to Los Zetas, says deputy attorney general
Mar. 1, 2014 - Did El Chapo Guzmán live in Mérida? Maybe, says the city's main newspaper, which today claimed the Sinaloa Cartel has the "greatest presence" in Yucatán of all the major cartels.
Mar. 21, 2014 - Death in the Yucatán
Related MGRR reports
Spanish tourists raped, robbed on Acapulco beach front
Puerto Vallarta: tensions linger after brazen narco attack
"Violence on Yucatán soil" - against foreigners
Murder in Maxcanú: Yucatán State Police officer kills four
Cancún Zetas extort even street vendors, and run sex trade, too - with INM help
Yucatán a haven for Mexican fugitives
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
Merida Catedral is not the oldest in the Americas. See below. Merida's Catedral was begun in 1556 and finished in 1598.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to split hairs, Merida Catedral is the oldest in MAINLAND Americas.
"Basilica Catedral Santa Maria de la Encarnacion (also known as Santa Maria la Menor, or most commonly by locals as the Catedral Primada de America), is located on the Parque Colon in Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial, is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. It was begun in 1514 with the intention that it become the center for Vatican-led religious proselytizing in the New World. Construction was completed in the early 1540s, after some delays caused by workers abandoning the work to search for Central American gold."
Thanks for the history lesson. Most readers, I suspect, will be far less interested in splitting hairs over the definition of "the Americas," and far more interested in the question of Yucatán security.
DeleteEdward,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your great articles.
I am curious as to why this article:
http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2012/12/yucatan-has-no-dominant-presence-of-any-drug-cartel/
differs so much from what you have written in this and other articles in the past? There just seems to be so many conflicting reports on this.
The article which you cite - in The Yucatan Times - was NOT written by me. I have no idea who did, but you'll note that the ultimate source cited is DEA (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration). DEA, in my opinion, has not a clue as to what is going on in many parts of Mexico. Why would they? They're not here. I put far more confidence in what Mexican law enforcement authorities say on the subject.
DeleteIn this story I linked an article (my own) from Jan. 1, 2012, in which a Mexican deputy attorney general said that Los Zetas run Yucatán. That may have been true at the time, but I suspect it's less so now. In Quintana Roo, we have Zetas, Los Matazetas, Los Pelones, the Sinaloa Cartel and probably several others. Most likely, all of them have some presence in Yucatán. It would be naive to presume otherwise, since the Riviera Maya is just a half day trip away. Moreover, it's a fact that a Sinaloa Cartel boss was arrested in Mérida (by Altabrisa Plaza) last September. He was a big catch.
I agree with you, there are indeed many conflicting reports. The one thing you can be sure of is that organized crime and drug trafficking exists in Yucatán, as everywhere else. Why then has the area experienced so little outright violence? Because of a well-established and respected accord to NOT turn the state into another battle ground.
I hope it stays that way, and maybe it will. Or maybe it won't. But TYT's story quoting DEA - without any further analysis - is like telling your child, "Don't worry, NOTHING bad can ever happen to you - you're protected by a special angel."
Im coming in on a cruise in april this was very informative progreso and cozumel seems to be safe places but im always skeptical .. this was helpful in calming my nerves
DeleteProgreso is very safe, in my opinion. The only threat, perhaps, is the excessive prices most restaurants charge for rather average quality seafood along the malecón (boardwalk).
DeleteAs for Cozumel, you're probably fine, too. But if you've got any young females tagging along, keep them out of Señor Frog's - especially at Happy Hour: http://www.mexicogulfreporter.com/2012/08/carnival-cruise-ship-passenger-reports.html
Things can change very quickly. Case in point, our current President's home State of Mexico. Once considered safe for a variety of reasons, such as: too well policed, bordering Mexico City, full of important politians and wealthy oligrachs, not on a main drug route, but mainly, the sense that it is the heart of the country and it would be going too far to risk its stability. All proven wrong. As they used to say when I was a kid watching TV, they have a tiger by the tail. Keep an eye on the PEMEX mystery.
ReplyDeleteConcerning Enrique Peña Nieto's home State of Mexico (Edomex), I've been covering the situation there closely in recent days: http://www.mexicogulfreporter.com/2013/01/executions-soar-in-mexicos-heart-as.html. Security in Edomex is rapidly deteriorating. I've reported only a fraction of the daily executions, because there isn't time to cover them all. Remember, this is just beyond the perimeter of the nation's capital - where the drug war was supposed to never arrive.
DeleteRegarding Pemex, I'm still monitoring it, and I'll update as necessary. I don't think there can or will be any type of a government cover up. It's too big, too many people died, and the Mexican press is all over it. And in fairness to Peña Nieto, I don't think he'd stand for any suppression of evidence either.
Speaking of EPN, I've been pleasantly surprised by the man in the last two months, despite all the hard things I wrote about him last year during the campaign. He's sticking with a very aggressive drug war posture (not that he has much choice), and he appears focused on economic matters and an anti-poverty campaign. I hope he's a marathoner and can go the distance. He's got 70 long months left, and the narcos aren't going anywhere.
Thanks for your reporting, always informative. Going to PDC again with family in two weeks, always with trepidation, but hoping for best.
ReplyDeleteStick to the busy areas, relax and enjoy yourself. Memorize these lines in case of trouble: "No lo vi yo nada. No sé nada de nada."
Delete