(Mexican Homeland Security Team)
On the same day that the O.C. Register reported that Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and Santa Ana council members Claudia Alvarez and Vincent Sarmiento, met with several of their counterparts from Mexico, to encourage tourism between our two countries, the Register also reported that U.S. Marines have to get written permission to visit Mexico, due “to several violent deaths that have occurred in Tijuana because of an ongoing drug war.”
“Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres said the American media have largely skewed reports of criminal-on-criminal violence in such a way that tourists fear for their safety. In an effort to bolster confidence, Torres said his city has implemented a special tourist police force, offers 24-hour help to visitors, and recently started a mail-in traffic ticket system by which violators can bypass a trip to the Police Department and mail their fees from home. “It’s a good time to come down and take a better look (at Baja),” he said, according to the O.C. Register.
Are you kidding? There have been thousands of death in the border region of Mexico and the U.S. due to the ongoing drug war. The LAST place I would visit right now is Mexico, at least the border and Baja areas. It might be safe to visit resorts such as Cancun, but who knows?
If the U.S. Marines have to get written permission to go to Mexico, why should any of us feel safe going there? Shame on Pringle, Alvarez and Sarmiento for encouraging such dangerous activities. Mexico is so corrupt that the cops in Tijuana had their guns taken away by the Federales last year. They now use slingshots. Nice. Considering the incident in Anaheim recently when one of their cops shot an innocent man, perhaps their cops should get slingshots too?
“Mexican officials also expressed interest during the talks in sending their safety officials to the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy, said Enrique Perez, director of the California Mexico Trade Assistance Center, which helped organize the event.”
Maybe that might be a good idea, considering the picture atop this post. Then again, is this O.C. Sheriff’s program going to teach cops to look the other way while inmates get beat to death?
Art, some years back I was an officer in Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Pendleton, training young marines newly graduated from boot camp. The competitive nature of marines carries into leave (Who can party the wildest?) and can and did get many of them into serious trouble when they had the mistaken notion that Tijuana was an “anything goes” city. Mexico is in fact quite a bit more conservative then the U.S., and it’s quite appropriate that young marines get some instruction about the culture and rules of our southern neighbor before visiting. Note that Mexico has not been placed off-limits for Marines.
Mexico is far, far more important to the U.S. economy and security than is Iraq, Afghanistan, or Canada, but has been largley ignored and isolated under the last administration. It’s government, economy and police forces are disfunctional, frustrating the efforts of many good Mexican leaders trying to correct things. It takes a lot of courage for an honest man to be a Mexican police officer. It’s completely appropriate, and in our own best interest to work closely with Baja officials and try to support their economy.
SAHS teacher,
Agreed, we need to help Mexico and it sucks being a cop in Mexico, but it is highly irresponsible to encourage Americans to go to Mexico right now. It is NOT safe there, period. The LA Times recently published a lengthy expose of the problems related to the drug war. Entire towns are now being run by drug lords. Some in the military even feel that Mexico could end up being lost to the drug lords entirely. This is NOT an environment to send American tourists into.
*A couple of things. First off, all military are trained to be “good guests” when they go to any foreign country. The Court of Military Justice says that not following the laws of any country while either in the uniform or on active duty with the military is a violation of the UCMJ.
Secondly, Art is very correct. Last week we drove down to San Diego two days in a row. On the first day we visited beautiful Cornado and the upgraded Del Cornado Hotel. We walked the island with complete confidence and safety. There are many new shops and restaurants and still a strong military presence…both in and out of uniform.
The second day refreshed by the Cornado experience we visited beautiful La Jolla….where I had lived back in the 70’s..La Jolla’s residential areas remained the same…the shops and restaurants now compete with anything on Rodeo Drive or Miracle Mile. Then we went to the
GasLight District…expecting more fun. Sadly,
the place is a mess. Due to the economy…there are no tourists, and almost every restaurant called us to “come on down”….just like Tiajuana
40 years ago. We decided to take some pictures by the bay and walked toward Seaport Village. About two blocks from the Convention Center we took a right off 4th Aveune. A homeless person faced us coming the other way with his market cart piled high. We crossed to the other side of the empty street. Simualtaneously, a red lowrider care with 4 black gangmembers came up from behind us. Their abusive remarks included:
“It that your wh- – -?” “Come over here!” “I’m talking to you whitey!”
It got worse but we move forward and made it to the next cross street. Their car stopped in the middle of the cross street. We turned left and did not look back. It was a very dangerous condition that certainly will not have us going back to the GasLight District anytime soon. We can only imagine what is going on in Tiajuana!
Wouldn’t the solution to this be that the USA should, with Mexican citizen approval, annex the northern states of the country of Mexico?
You may believe that my intent is facetious – I assure you that I am serious.
LOS ANGELES — For tens of thousands of U.S. Marines in Southern California, new orders from the brass amount to: Baghdad si, Tijuana no.
Citing a wave of violence and murder in Mexico, the commanding officer of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton has made the popular military “R&R” destinations of Tijuana and nearby beaches effectively off-limits for his Marines.
The order by Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland restricts travel into Mexico by the 44,000 members of the unit, many of whom have had multiple tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones under their belts — or are there now.
The limits were first put in place for the Christmas holiday. Last week the commander extended the order indefinitely, said Mike Alvarez, civilian public information officer for the unit at Camp Pendleton.
“The situation in Mexico is now more dangerous than usual,” he said. “The intent is just to look out for the Marines’ safety and well-being.”
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Tijuana has been a popular attraction for Californians since Prohibition days, when legal liquor was unavailable north of the border. In more recent times, its 18-year-old drinking age, cheap prices, gambling, beaches, tourist-oriented businesses and bars have attracted civilians and off-duty military from the San Diego area and elsewhere.
San Diego, heavy with Navy and Marine presence, adjoins the Mexican border and Camp Pendleton is in northern San Diego County, about 50 miles from the border.
Fallen on hard times
These days, sidewalk restaurants along Tijuana’s main tourist street, Avenida Revolucion, often are empty. Tourists are buffeted by barkers and merchants desperate for U.S. dollars. Visitors may be approached with offers of drugs or prostitution as well.
Tijuana, like Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, has been hit particularly hard by the drug violence that has spread across Mexico. Tijuana saw its bloodiest year ever in 2008 with 843 killings, compared with 337 the previous year.
The violence in Tijuana grew toward the end of last year and continued this year with numerous execution-style slayings. Many of the bodies were found decapitated. The State Department has issued a travel alert for Americans going to Mexico.
Officials from the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana regularly check with Mexican police and jails for Americans in trouble, and U.S. military Shore Patrol officers check daily. Alvarez said “there have been incidents from time to time” but did not know how many Marines have gotten into trouble.
Helland’s directive requires written approval from a lieutenant colonel or higher-ranking officer for travel across the border — whether for official business, to visit family or for leisure, known in the military as rest and relaxation, or R&R.
Marines venturing over the border also must complete anti-terrorism training, receive a military security briefing and “use the buddy system,” that is travel with a companion 18 or older, according to Helland’s order.
Most of the affected Marines are at Pendleton, but some are at other bases in Southern California and Arizona. And 13,500 members of the unit are currently deployed overseas, said Alvarez, a retired captain and helicopter pilot who served three tours in Iraq.
As part of the order, Marines who cross the border on approved travel must carry contact information for the U.S. Consulate General and the Border Shore Patrol.
The restrictions don’t apply to the more than 75,000 active duty Navy sailors in the area, but they are required to inform their chains of command if they cross the border, said Lt. (j.g.) Lenaya Rotklein, public affairs officer for the Navy Region Southwest Command at San Diego.
For Marines, the order is enforceable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Violators could face a court-martial.
“It’s a lawful order,” Alvarez says. “As Marines, we obey lawful orders.”
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I didn’t know Alvarez was a Marine. Go figure.
I can’t imagine traveling to TJ these days but I hope that this drug problem can get cleared up on both sides of the border. It paints a dark picture when situations like the one cited by the Winships occur in almost every major city in our own country.
Doesn’t that homeless/gangbanger situation deserve a travel advisory from other countries to their citizens looking to travel to the US? I imagine tourists from Mexico are very concerned about travel to the US with the additional concern about the white racists attacking every spanish speaker as an “illegal”
Of course now we can reclassify illegal aliens as tourists and thank Pringle, Alvarez and Sarmiento for their economic contribution.