Chris Rogers, an Edmonton university student has died in Mexico. Initial reports were sketchy. First report claimed he got in a fight, was punched in the nose and fell off a balcony. Only he was punched in a night club and fell off the balcony after he was taken back to the hotel by friends. Seemingly the punch gave him a concussion which made him dizzy, implying that’s why he fell off the balcony. Pretty fishy if you ask me.
Who punched him and gave him a “concussion”? Did they follow him to his hotel? Another tragedy has resulted in the loss of another young life. An engineer student with a bright future ahead of him snuffed out for no reason.
There have been quite a few Canadians killed in Mexico. On April 27, 2012, Thomas Gisby was gunned down in Mexico outside a Starbucks. He wasn’t a tourist. He was involved in the drug trade as were Elliot Castenada and Ahmet (Lou) Kaawach who were gunned down in 2008 as well as Gordon Kendall and Jeffry Ivans gunned down in 2009. Salih Sahbaz was another BC resident involved inn the drug trade gunned down in Mexico last year.
However, number tourists have been killed Mexico as well. In November 2012, the body of B.C. man Ron Mackintosh was found dead. Mexican officials said Mackintosh had been dead for several days before his body was found. He had a cord around his neck and was tied to a tree.
In January 2012 a UBC student who was in Mexico working on her doctorate was murdered along with her boyfriend. They were bound, stabbed, set on fire and buried on a beach. Each tragedy represents a profound loss and criminals who have lost touch with humanity.
Mexican Vacation Awareness
I can think of no real reason why any one from the US/Canada needs to go to Mexico. Plenty of places in the Caribbean to go on vacation.
ReplyDeleteI guess the draw is that it's cheap and the beaches are so awesome. Yet the brutality of the gang war is disturbing and that appears to be spilling over to the criminal mentality. That is the kind of violence our gang bangers are funding with their new SUVs and Hummers.
ReplyDeletetrailrunner78:
ReplyDelete"I can think of no real reason why any one from the US/Canada needs to go to Mexico. Plenty of places in the Caribbean to go on vacation."
Agent K:
"I guess the draw is that it's cheap and the beaches are so awesome."
But TR's right, the beaches are just as awesome in Cuba, the Barbados, or so many other places, like Hawaii. Why on Earth go to murderous Mexico; you'll just get shot. Everyone will just give another news item a glance, and think, "Why did he go to Mexico?"
All those places are just as dangerous as Mexico. The trick is using your smarts, don't look like a target, stay on the beaten path, and don't be trouble yourself, and chances are you'll have a great time! I've been to Mexico twice in the last year and never felt threatened. A lot of times tourists go down, have a few beers, and then decide they want to score a little blow or something, and they get robbed and thrown off of balconys. Theres people there looking for that exact kind of tourist.
ReplyDelete"All those places are just as dangerous as Mexico."
ReplyDeleteYeah, over twenty-thousand people have been murdered in Cartel mass-murder in Hawaii...or was that the Barbados...?
What a cretin, read a newspaper before you post. It's called a "Drug-War."
Dinkweed, you should stroll around Ciudad Juarez, at 2am...Heck, it'll be just like Maui...
ReplyDeleteI should have said all those place "can" be as dangerous as Mexico. I'm not referring to the country as a whole, I'm speaking from a tourist standpoint. My point was you can still go to Mexico and have a good time, but you need to be careful, and bad shit happens in all those places. The place you mentioned above is a well known trouble hotspot and not even a cretin like me would go there and not expect problems.
DeleteJust curious if you've ever been to any of these places, or do you live your life vicariously through the media and then regurgitate it on blogs and other places on the internet.
I get the feeling its the latter, and that might help explain your obvious repressed anger. Dick.
Just because you don't read about it or hear it on the news... doesn't mean it doesn't happen Freddy.
ReplyDeleteWe recently re-located to Central America and I can tell you first hand there are a lot more murders and drug wars that go on then is reported... a lot more.
Agree. I ran a business in Cancun years ago. The stuff main stream media would post compared to the violent crimes that happened against tourists as a whole...was nothing. It was my Mexican staff that would translate local news of naked bodies found in the jungle....brutally raped and murdered. for the 9 months I was there, it was many more than any American media outlet ever reported. Some poor young woman, got drunk and fell victim to a ruthless pieces of shit. This country truly relies on tourism. Stop tourism until they starve and realize that better policing must be instituted, and respect for the hand that feeds them. There are so many places to visit...and as one poster wrote, yes there are dangers in any foreign place we wish to visit, but a lot less than Mexico. Cheap vs a serious risk to your health and well being...I choose life and I'll spend a couple of extra bucks to enjoy other beaches, cultures and experiences. Screw Mexico. Why support their economy....let them starve and realize that they need to respect the industry that feeds them. Its really simple.
DeletePlease check out my website. I started it after the death of my 22 year old son Nolan in Cancun 6 years ago. There are SO many tourists dying in Mexico we should all be outraged!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mexicovacationawarenss.com
That's terrible, I'm truly sorry for your loss.
DeleteA friend through middle school went down to Cancun...his life was just taking off, a star basketball player with some serious promise...a new modelling career that was starting to really roll and he was found dead at his hotel within a couple of days. I still have the news clipping. I was shocked. Mexico is a waste. The toilet of North America.
Wow, my condolences. That's what I meant when I said each case represents a profound loss.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLet's be nice people. Yes you can still have a wonderful time in Mexico. Yet it can also be very dangerous and their gang war is brutally violent. No doubt some countries in Central America can have similar problems. The Caribbean sounds nice. I guess Hawaii would be safest but then again any one of us could slip in the bath tub or get hit by a car crossing the street.
ReplyDeleteAgent K, it's not some countries in Central America, it's all countries.
ReplyDeleteAnd as much as I feel bad about people dying at resorts from things like drowning, excessive drinking, etc... people need to realize you CANNOT force the North American way on the Latin culture. It is not your right to tell them how to live or how they need to do things. North Americans have left a really sour taste in all Latin countries from Mexico to Panama. Do you really think the locals appreciate mega resorts coming into their country, snapping up all the beach front lots, paying them minimum wage at best, to listen to tourists whine and snivel about EVERYTHING.
And keep in mind... these resorts, are not Mexican owned... they are giant corporations ran by none other than Americans. The staff is not trained to North American standards because in places like Mexico the standards and legal requirements are different.
Just my thoughts... back to my coffee
Oh and while I am on a role, I will also tell you of a place in Canada, that sees thousands upon thousands of swimmers a year whose lifeguards are also not properly qualified. I know this because one of the lifeguards let me know before he was promoted from slide operator to lifeguard he was terrified of water.
ReplyDeleteNone other than the world famous West Edmonton Mall.
Sorry Agent K, as much as I cant resist a good flame war, I find your blog to be a great source of information you wont find anywhere else and I wont taint it with my childish behavior. Keep up the good work. You too Freddy!
ReplyDeleteNo worries. Freddy can be aggressive.
ReplyDeleteThat just means we're passionate about our beliefs.
Apologies if I offended you,
ReplyDeleteDinkweed. You kindly qualified your statement re. C. Juarez. I hope you & others post here more often...
Jennifer's comment that other Central American countries are as bad is surely true as well.
Well, AK, the Forum so far is a failure. I don't just want to post items, talking only to myself forever. It is very strange, that in a city with a huge, public gang-war problem, that nevertheless, people here in the Lower Mainland don't want to express themselves on.
ReplyDeleteI'm un-aware of any other blog or Forum that covers this ground.
That said, it should probably left up for a while, to see if more interest can be generated. If I'm still talking to myself six months from now, it can eventually be shuttered as a failure. It's really too bad.
The number of page views is pretty large; with thousands of people looking on, but refusing to post.
I just want to say that the wilderness pictures you put up; (the way you travel in the bush is smart); are a great feature of this blog.
Yeah, for me it’s a matter of how much time is available. I tried starting a Twitter account but I just don’t have time to even look at it let alone upkeep it. The forum I was just thinking would be a good place for others to sound off where I wouldn’t monopolize the conversation. I can barely keep up with the blog and answering e-mail. I really need to balance that out with heading up the mountains to keep my sanity. 4 meters of snow on the local mountains. Now is prime time. That size of a snow pack will last well into spring.
DeleteAK: "I can barely keep up with the blog and answering e-mail."
DeleteYes, and many successful bloggers have the same problem. Andrew Sullivan's "Daily Dish" took on an un-paid intern...
There are ways to get paid for all these page-views, surely, thru Google and putting up ads. There are different ways of getting a few hundred bucks/month...Google offers these services to bloggers for free...
Yeah, I've really wanted to steer away from the adds and making money from the blog and web site. I'm happy with my full time job and see it as a career that pays the bills and pays into a pension. I really wanted the blog and web site to be strictly volunteer so no one could say I was just a sensationalist trying to make money. I do this because I genuine care about the gang violence. People have asked to donate in the past and I've just said donate to a foodline or shelter in East Van. Now I think the Surrey Urban Mission is my charity of choice. They're still looking for a new home. You are absolutely right about her. She is doing a fantastic job in the community.
Delete"She is doing a fantastic job..."
DeleteAND; doing all this, while confined to a wheelchair. I ate there a few times and she's always starting us off with a prayer. She means it; prayer is good.
And, when I think about going home to Kerrisdale; to help my aged Mom...Those folks in their huge houses do nothing for their fellow BC'ers, just nothing. No one sees them smoking crack all night long; because it's all done with utmost discretion, behind guarded front doors; dial-and-smoke...
*Besafe*
ReplyDeleteMy deepest, most profound condolences.
Dinkweed: "Just curious if you've ever been to any of these places..."
ReplyDeleteFine, but the words, "these places" could cover thirty or more countries. It's very un-likely that the average Canadian would have such deep knowledge; as would come from spending years living there, as has poster Jennifer.
That said, I've been six months in Cuba, and a month in Hawaii, that's it.
I've been to Mexico numerous time, nothing happened to me.
ReplyDelete