Belize Safety

[Ram]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

If the gun has never been registered to you anywhere, who's to say one of the boarders did not drop it in the struggle and you shot him?

good point!

[tropicalescape]

Mexican Cartels have found it difficult to market there products in the US and have flooded central and south America with their wares..source:El Narco(new book)history and futrue of the Narco market..they have subverted most countries south of Mexico and that may explain why they were non-Belize looking.(?)Belive it or not Mexico has become a failed state with Insurgent(military)action ruling the day...just ask Mr. Caldoron if you dont belive me...Or better yet ask the Para-military Narco gang The Zetas..Iff'in you aint convincend...DVC

[Mexdon]

Why did we have the drug cartels establish themselves in the first place? If I am not wrong it was because of the strong market north of the border, then we had the USA govt allowing the sale of massive amounts of arms to whomever wanted to buy them hence the thousands of illegal arms in Mexico.

However can anyone give me statistics of the 24 million foreign tourists who visit Mexico each year and stay for a minimum of 4 nights who are threatened by the drug cartels? How many tourist deaths have there been in the last five years? How many tourists have been kidnapped and killed? It must be one or two but statistically having a vacation in Mexico is safer than shopping in downtown LA or driving on a freeway to work anywhere in the world.

Belize has one incident, serious as it is but as it is the first it has attracted unwarranted scaremongering. This type of incident could happen at any isolated or lone anchorage anywhere. Attacks on couples in parked cars in isolated locations is a regular crime in most cities of the world yet people still park. Lets keep the incident in perspective.

[tropicalescape]

Not trying to scare anyone but I think if one were to look close at what is happening in places like Guatamala,Belize,and other small central American countries you would see that they are being over run with violent crime that has increased several fold from just a few years back.Many reports about tactics such as faining a flat tire then you stop to help and you are kidnapped and held for ransom(sound familiar)Buses being borded and robbed,governments ordering civil servents to not drive at night.Gangs building road blocks and robbing dozens of people at a time ...It is getting worse everyday and it all has the hallmark of mexican drug cartels..for more info check:CIA Factbook.com..DVC..PS thinking people who have traveled the 3rd world know better than to report anything short of murder to the police ..they are the ones commiting the crimes!

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Mexdon

Why did we have the drug cartels establish themselves in the first place? If I am not wrong it was because of the strong market north of the border, then we had the USA govt allowing the sale of massive amounts of arms to whomever wanted to buy them hence the thousands of illegal arms in Mexico.

However can anyone give me statistics of the 24 million foreign tourists who visit Mexico each year and stay for a minimum of 4 nights who are threatened by the drug cartels? How many tourist deaths have there been in the last five years? How many tourists have been kidnapped and killed? It must be one or two but statistically having a vacation in Mexico is safer than shopping in downtown LA or driving on a freeway to work anywhere in the world.

Belize has one incident, serious as it is but as it is the first it has attracted unwarranted scaremongering. This type of incident could happen at any isolated or lone anchorage anywhere. Attacks on couples in parked cars in isolated locations is a regular crime in most cities of the world yet people still park. Lets keep the incident in perspective.

The narcotics business has been going on in Mexico since Pancho whats his name...

[jewel114]

Throw the gun and ammo overboard with the dude.

[bobconnie]

I hate to say it but I think I might have to try to use my 10 ga Flare Gun the 12 ihch one !! but ya never know, but I wont give it up but thats just me ! But Ive had 73 yrs of life ! Everybody needs to think about what they would do and plan ahead. My plan may not be even close to yours ! just my 2 cents

[Mexdon]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

The narcotics business has been going on in Mexico since Pancho whats his name...

I would very much appreciate references to back up this "fact".

The drug Cartels are a MODERN menace and have been around now for about 30 years gaining strength annually but until recently the market for drugs in Mexico was virtually non existant some users yes but not nearly the 3.7 million who use the drug in the USA . The largest consumer of cocaine in the world is the USA and thus Mexico was but one of the conduits for the product that is not produced in Mexico but comes from South American countries. A Google search will provide the references for this fact.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Mexdon

I would very much appreciate references to back up this "fact".

The drug Cartels are a MODERN menace and have been around now for about 30 years gaining strength annually but until recently the market for drugs in Mexico was virtually non existant some users yes but not nearly the 3.7 million who use the drug in the USA . The largest consumer of cocaine in the world is the USA and thus Mexico was but one of the conduits for the product that is not produced in Mexico but comes from South American countries. A Google search will provide the references for this fact.

+1.

As a gringo living in Central America for many years, I share your perspective: Central America does not have a drug problem -- the USA has a drug problem and Central America is caught in the middle. For example, here in Guatemala I have many Guatemalan friends spanning the range of the socioeconomic scale from subsistence level (living not very different than ancient hunter-gathers) to ultra-wealthy. I can't think of a single one, at any economic level, with a drug problem. In dramatic contrast, I can think of a very long list of American friends, at many different economic levels, with substance abuse problems.

One pattern which makes the gang and the drug problem worse here in CA is that when gang/drug offenders are busted in the USA they have historically been deported back to their home countries. Effectively, they learn a new "trade" in the US and return home with new "skills". Both the drug and gang problems are relatively recent developments in CA and have now reached crisis proportions.

Our (USA) so-called "war on drugs" is a failed policy, but we are opposed to alternatives. For example, the USA recently de-railed an attempt by Guatemala's new President to start a dialog between CA countries about better strategies for dealing with their norther neighbor's drug problem.

Honduras, who chose not to attend this meeting, immediately received a large foreign aid contribution from the US. Most others did not attend as well and I suspect similar donations are pending for them as well.

Given that the war-on-drugs is demonstrably a very expensive policy failure...makes me wonder who is profiting from it...likely the military-industrial complex who our government now serves more than it's own citizens.

This continued failed strategy has tragic results not only in CA, but world-wide. One of those tragic results is attacks like this one in Belize. Not to minimize this horrible event, but it pales in comparison to the much larger scale tragedies played out here every day.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Mexdon

I would very much appreciate references to back up this "fact".

The drug Cartels are a MODERN menace and have been around now for about 30 years gaining strength annually but until recently the market for drugs in Mexico was virtually non existant some users yes but not nearly the 3.7 million who use the drug in the USA . The largest consumer of cocaine in the world is the USA and thus Mexico was but one of the conduits for the product that is not produced in Mexico but comes from South American countries. A Google search will provide the references for this fact.

El Narco(inside Mexicos criminal insurgance) written by Ioan Grillo...starts with the early history of narcotics in the US and Mexico and takes it to the present "modern" cartels and the dirty deeds done dirt cheap by such people..good read...DVC

[Mexdon]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

El Narco(inside Mexicos criminal insurgance) written by Ioan Grillo...starts with the early history of narcotics in the US and Mexico and takes it to the present "modern" cartels and the dirty deeds done dirt cheap by such people..good read...DVC

Thanks, I will hunt it out and get it.