MEXICO: Are Tourists Safe From Narco Violence In Cancun? Another Shark Attack Reported.

USATODAY/ K.B. YANCEY/

   Cancun had 5.9 million international visitors last year, up by more than 400,000 from 2009.
   But so far this year, hotel occupancy rates are down...to about 71% instead of the usual high season 80%-plus...as Americans read and are repelled by news of Mexico's increased narco violence.
   Cancun and the Maya Riviera in the state of Quintana Roo are important to mexico's economy. They account for more than 50% of international tourism.
   Cancun has increased security.
   But up to date crime numbers are hard to get..even for the U.S.embassy.

AND:  A Russian tourist was attacked by a shark just 100 yards from Cancun's shore...after lifeguards warned the woman to stay out of the water.
    It was the second shark attack in Cancun's hotel zone in less than two months.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/25/2133170/shark-bites-cancun-tourist-in.html

MEXICO: Crime In Cancun: Cop Kills 3 Fellow Officers; 2 Murdered In Crowded Cafe; Dismembered Body Found In Cenote.

LAHT/
    An on-duty police officer killed three fellow officers and then himself in a police post on Acanceh Avenue in Supermanzana 15, an upscale area of central Cancun.
    Also, two people were murdered Sunday inside a crowded seafood restaurant; a police patrol car was attacked with a grenade a couple of hours later.
     On Monday a homeless man found the dismembered body of a woman inside a cave.

MEXICO: At Least 8 Die In Cancun Bar Attack From Fire.

AP/M.HERALD/     The early morning attack with 2 molotov cocktails that killed at least 8 locals took place at the Castillo del Mar bar, located on Avenue Leona Vicario far from the tourist areas. Officials said some men had previously warned the bar owners that they needed “mafia protection.” Earlier in August, a man was arrested for demanding $40,000 to protect the bar. Police suspect Los Zetas narco terrorists are responsible for the attack.

MEXICO: 12 Bodies Found In Sinkholes Near Cancun.

LAHT/     Officially now, nothing is sacred in Mexico. Cancun police found 12 bodies inside four sinkholes, limestone caves and pools known as cenotes, loved by tourists and now apparently used by drug gangs for disposal of bodies. The clandestine cemeteries are on the outskirts of Cancun, three in an area known as Alamos 2. (Foto of popular tourist cenote in Yucatan)

ARGENTINA: Wanted Model Narco Queen Arrested In Hostel.

GUARDIAN.U.K./     Colombia's former coffee queen, Angie Sanclemente Valencia, 30, was arrested in a hostel in Buenos Aires' Palermo neighborhood. She was sought for recruiting models to mule cocaine on flights to Cancun, Mexico. She claims she was framed by relatives of her Argentine boyfriend.

MEXICO: Cancun Mayor Arrested On Drug Charges.

LATIMES/    Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez, who's running for governor of Quintana Roo, was arrested by federal police on drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime charges. Police claim Sanchez offered information and protection to the Zetas and Beltran Leyva narco gangs.
"This takes us all by surprise, it is unprecedented," said Q. Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez Cantu. "This is a political prosecution. There is no other word for it," Sanchez's wife told reporters. Sanchez was known  for firing corrupt police officers and turning empty lots into parks.

MEXICO: Cancun Police Search For Missing "Survivor" TV Producer.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/    Cancun police can't find a former "Survivor" producer to question about the recent violent death of his wife. Bruce Beresford-Redman's passport was confiscated and he was ordered not to leave Mexico after his wife's body was found in a sewer at the Moon Palace Resort on April 8. Investigators twice tried to question him...but could not locate him. "For over a month, we have patiently waited for the Mexican authorities to take some action," the family of the victim said. "Monica Burgos is an American citizen who was murdered over one month ago in Mexico and she deserves justice."

MEXICO: Cancun Drug Chief Captured.

LAHT/ Reputed Quintana Roo drug lord Jesus Alejandro Salazar Rodriguez was captured by police in Cancun along with three associates and two people being held captive for ransom.

MEXICO: Travel Review Of San Cristobal de las Casas And Palenque.

EDMONTON JOURNAL/ Vancouver Sun/

San Cristobal de las Casas is a small colonial  mountain city about four hours from Guatemala, best known for its association with the Zapatista rebels. Today it is mostly peaceful, safe, relatively inexpensive and popular with Europeans. It  is a wonderful mix of revolutionary, colonial and native Indian influences.

Editor's Note: San Cristobal is currently my favorite city in Mexico. But I disagree with writer Caitlin Evans about the overnight bus ride to Cancun, especially if you have a queasy stomach. With an often narrow, up and down winding road, that trip can be hellish...even a vomit comet! However, break-up the trip and stop to visit the splendid ruins at Palenque on the way to the Playa Riviera. They are magnificent...looming out of the hilly jungle. Plus the sounds of the screaming howler monkeys are positively eerie and primitive!

Priest Used Sand-filled Juice Cans To Highjack Mexican Plane.

AFP.
A Bolivian protestant priest who hijacked an Aeromexico plane from Cancun with 104 people aboard used three Jumex juice cans filled with sand to convince crew members he had a bomb. Jose Mar Flores Pereira, 44, a singer and former drug addict, surrendered to authorities at the Mexico City airport.

Stealing Sand In Cancun.

NYTIMES.

Cancun's sand has been shrinking for years, ever since Hurricane Wilma struck the Yucatán Peninsula four years ago and even though the Mexican government has spent millions of dollars to replenish the beaches.

Now some hotel owners are taking it into their own hands... and stealing sand for their beaches.

Mexican Tourism Slow to Rebound after Swine Flu Outbreak

Mexico's famous destinations like Cancun and Cozumel have seen few foreign tourists since the swine flu outbreak in April that killed 108 people...despite a $91 million dollar ad campaign.

Instead a new class of tourists has emerged...locals... that some brand as "cheapskates"...lured by the new steep discounts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=agXnNkxtqHEA

Cuba Allows Mexican Flights to Resume

Granma reports that tomorrow, Monday, June 1st, flights from Mexico to La Habana can resume.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/mayo/vier29/Informational-Note.html

The Castros essentially ended all flights from Mexico on April 30th...because of their swine flu fears.

For those tourists who have been anxiously tanning their heels for days...or even weeks...on Cancun's beaches, waiting for flights to resume...relief finally appears imminent.

I say appears...IMMINENT.

I would DREAD cueing up for tomorrow's first flights...on Click or Cubana.

Or, for that matter, even for several days afterwards.

The colas...just to buy tickets at the tiny, one-person Cancun airport counters...will be PURE HELL...as only an experienced Cuban visitor can appreciate!

It will resemble La Habana's usual... long... 5 peso pizza lines..at lunch time!

Then there's the planes themselves : tons of oversized luggage in the overheads and even the aisles, no empty seats, miserably humid heat because of lousy ACs in the dilapidated Russian and American planes that make the CUN-LAH run.

But, for the grace of God...and the recent termination of VivaAerobus flights from Austin, Texas...go I.

After getting there... Cuba in junio...is no picnic.

Except for the mangoes! Yum!

They are size of nerf footballs...and sweeter than any Mexican variety I have ever tasted in the US.

And super cheap. Maybe 5 pesos....each...at season's height (about $.20 US).