drug war in Mexico

Anyone following this? It's very frightening. It reminds of the 80s when a friend visited Cancun and there were police with guns walking the shore.

My son is there filming a documentary. He told me he's way far away from all the riots, but it's still crazy. I'm hoping the kids stay away on spring break. There are lots of other places to go and be in the sun for a week.

Dotsie, we LIVE next to it. They are advising the college students to NOT go to MX, where they usually do go on weekends. There's a HUGE traffic fatality rate for teens here with drunk driving/speeding. It's sad. Drugs have been a problem here for a long, long time. I won't go into it here, but trust me. For YEARS!

I think the whole spring break thing is gross and frightening even without adding in drug wars. These kids seem to be drunk or drugged out of their minds. It's not surprising that bad things happen and that some of them either won't come home or will come home traumatized. (And where do they get the money for all this partying?)

I would think that going to Mexico at this time would be borrowing trouble, but I'm sure a lot of kids either won't care or will think it's thrilling. I really don't feel all that sorry for them; they choose to go and get wild and crazy.

Ellemn many go dutch and others are spoiled rich brats that have parents who pay.

Our govenrment along with Mexicos are warning college girls especially to stay away because the drug cartels kidnap young white women and give or sell them to the higher ups in their food chain. Usually using them for prostitution.

One niniteen year old girl went missing recently while on a shopping trip to Mexico, it was on the Nancy Grace show. She apparently called her father and said she was crossing the border in about half an hour and would be home at such and such a time. She never returned home. Later they found her car abandoned. They said many of the Mexican Policia are corrupt and part of these kidnappings.

Whats with these clueless kids having to leave the safety of the United States of America. There are plenty of gorgeois places right here to see.

Its up to the parents to PUT THEIR FOOT DOWN on the kids leaving this country.

All I know about it, is what I hear on O'Reilly's Factor, The No Spin Zone. But it sounds extremely scary. Back in the early
1990s I worked with a lady who took cruises and traveled via
Mexico. She was told way back then to be very careful because
Americans were being kidnapped even at that time. I agree with
you about parents making their children stay in the States to
vacation. But it seems young people have no fear about anything.

I think I read one time where John Cash and June Carter were
attacked and tormented while vacationing in Mexico. Both of them
seem to go down hill physically after that incident. I've never
been to Mexico but they say it is beautiful.

Huckabee has a segment on the drug wars in Mexico tonight.

I like Huckabee...He'd have made a better choice for the Republican candidate than Mc Cain.

Lets hope these drug wars stay in Mexico... They needn't bring their dirty garbage here, we already have enough of our own.

It is truly scary how this is spilling onto American soil...and that there's already Mexican cartel in every major city in the US...this country's demand for drugs is fueling what's happening...this will never stop...I feel it will only get worse. Our nation changed on 9-11. There is no safe place anymore in the U.S.

YEA, IT's SCARY!
Too close to home, too!
They've beheaded a couple of Mexican agents who've worked closely with Texas agents.
From what I understand, they are sending help to Dallas, El Paso, and Laredo (why Houston I do not know - the Port is right there - open and accessible by the drug runners).

How many of you think it is being kept as a political diversion?

Sounds about right to me Gims and there are many that agree with the idea.

chatty, another thought I've entertained... remember how the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (Old Testament), and to pollute and dilute the resident race (the Israelites), they displaced some of them, while bringing in other nationalities to inter-marry with the ones allowed to stay? I've often wondered if that's part of the plan of those who support illegals staying. If the illegals inter-marry with U.S. citizens, it becomes easier to erase borders, make one nation - North American Union, then the New World Order, which some think of as conspiracy. It can be proved, however; we have past presidents who used the term - Bush I and Clinton, to name two.

Sometimes, I have another theory. The U.S. has to stay 'friends' with Mexico, by whatever means, so Cuba and/or Russia don't buddy up and move in, completely.

Either prospect doesn't sit well with me, but what to do? Arm our citizens?

Oh that could be one solution but El Presidente is going after our guns. He wants to control the banks, the food supply and our guns. I wouldn't be surprised to see chain link surrounded camps being erected not long after that. This country is on a very slippery slope and the abiss is not to far below once we start falling. But the ostrichs can't and won't see it coming till its too late.

I'm in Tucson, on the Nogalas border. We live in kidnap zone. The kidnapping rate is HIGH here and in PHX. There are warnings everywhere to watch out for kidnappers and the numbers are way up.

I've a friend whose husband has been kidnapped already. It's a sport here in Arizona at this time. There have been from 300 to 500 depending on what cities you include.

We have to seal out borders with Mexico and if you live in a border town, you know that. Ours is famous for it's troubles.

Yes, El Paso is ground zero too. Its right over the border from Mexico.

The kidnapping is the problem for us at this time. Some get kidnapped up to three or four times!

Dancer in the bad lands.

Dancer I'm sorry you're in the bad lands. I've a sister in Tucson, too. Her well being is a concern. O'Reilly wanted the
US to put troops along the Mexican border but those in power
would not concur. The drug war and cartel thing has been an ongoing issue for decades. It's just that the issue has
skyrocketed in recent years. Here's another problem to add to
our prayer lists!

Boy is Mexico getting hit. Between the drug wars (which we're hearing nothing about lately) and the flu. I can't imagine what this is doing to their economy.

I've never been to Mexico. But I'll bet it's beautiful. Any of
you vacationed there?

My instinct would be to simply avoid the border towns in Mexico. It probably would help to know people who are long term residents of Mexico or come from there. Right now with the swine flu scare, probably just better not to be there for next few months.

One of my partner's co-biz owners, his wife is from Mexico. But she's been here for the past 15 years. They have a son, etc. They maintain a home/have lots of family still in Mexico City. Go back to visit at least once a year.

Now THAT is an excellent connection... and hence, I would have no qualms going to areas of Mexico that they would recommend and other observe other tips as visitors.

Can't be any different than travelling to Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya, Sudan..probably even safer...than Sudan, Nigeria.

Please this how people react whenever there is a shootout in Chinatown..they won't go. As if all crime is just in that area. Jeez.

We were in Mexico about three years ago. I brought back incredibly fun memories and E-Coli poisoning. Landed in the hospital flat on my back for two nights on strong antibiotics. However, Mexico was out of this world. We stayed in a resort. There were four families that traveled together so something was always rocking. The weather was beautiful, water gorgeous, the people were gracious, and a great time was had by all.

orchid, maybe not now with the swine flu, but eventually, I'd feel totally comfortable traveling with a local. This is what my son did when he was there about 8 weeks ago. One of the skimboarders in the documentary he was filming was a local and he trucked them all over the place to deserted beaches. He loved it. Unlike when we traveled, he was immersed in the culture and couldn't get enough.

Sorry you became ill, Dotsie. I heard it said, not to drink the water in Mexico. Thought maybe it was just a rumor. I did see a TV documentary about retiring in Mexico, with its cheap labor and reasonable land prices. There's too much uproar for me right now. But if things calm down, perhaps we can visit there some day.

Anne327,
Agree. The idea of getting acclimated, isn't all that appealing.
I do love the architecture and warmth, however.

One can never predict the acclimitization factor when travelling.

When we were vacationing earlier this winter in Hawaii, I had mild diarehea nearly every morning. Then I was ok. I had no idea what it was...but this is in the U.S., folks! Nothing terribly unusual about the food I tried....and I have a strong durable palate that can take wild swings in spiciness, mouth texture of various cusisines, etc.

When we were vacationing in Santa Fe, NM area, I had to acclimitize for 1-2 days to get used to being at higher elevation. Initially wondered why I was so incredibly sluggish on the bike and why I had a headache.

Many opportunities while living in the U.S. to acclimatize better for international travel...hiking and camping for long time periods in different conditions, eating for several consecutive days in ethnic neighbourhoods..

It continues to amaze me how some Canadians and Americans don't visit their local ethnic neighbourhoods in their own home city, at all (and some of these are huge neighbourhoods)..to expose themselves in advance. For some people, they are genuinely uncomfortable ...in their own city. I can see it in their facial expressions.

Jesse Ventura, ex-wrestler, ex-governor, lives in Mexico 6 months of every year with his wife and surfs there (saw him on a talk show last week). I don't feel right about a government official living outside of our country half of each year.

Mexico has been a drug problem for decades. Afghanistan is as much of a problem because of their poppy/heroin annual crop making billions off of Americans.

I heard that kids are smoking candy now to get high. What's up with more drug use here. Isn't that our problem to fix?

The GI upsets are usually from a change in water. We become accustomed to our local water, so when we go somewhere else, there are different things in the water that we have to get used to. I've seen it recommended that you take a couple of gallons of your local water with you when you visit a new area and mix it with the new water so your body gets used to it gradually. I don't think it's necessarily the food.

I almost forgot about the drinking water shortage the planet will experience in the next 5-10 years, never mind 20 years. More chemicals will be needed to treat sewage water and that cannot make good drinking water.

Like Chatty, I probably won't be here to worry about it, but I worry about it now.

We have a water filter that takes out almost all of the bad stuff. It's amazing what a difference it makes in just the taste of the water. Living in the desert has made me very water conscious, so we do all we can to conserve and not use much. Some of the things are simple, like using the dog's water bowls to water plants instead of dumping the water down the drain when we change the water daily. We will eventually have a grey-water system and rain catchment - they're on the list of projects once the house is finished on the inside.

I know when WB and I were at Paradise Island, in the Caribbean, my body did not adjust well to conch. I got the idea they put it in everything edible. Thanks. But no thanks!