Crime in Mexico -- Gringolandians Don't Get It

This blog post will not be about Guanajuato. It will be about another area of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, which is on the West Coast of the country and a mega-popular tourist and expat spot. The post I will be quoting is from someone concerned about safety in Vallarta. There are a lot of forum posts lately that ask about safety concerns and rightfully so. Let's see what this person said:

"I've already done my fair share of research and haven't found anything bad
about crime in PV. I went on vacation to puerto vallarta in early 2008, and
absolutely LOVED it. I stayed at the presidente intercontinental which is a beautiful little resort all the way up in the mismaloya area. I really want to go back and am planning a vacation for late august. However, with all the crap I've been hearing about crime in Mexico lately I'm a little freaked, not too mention scared to stay at the hotel that I really want too because its so far up in the mountains. What I'm wondering is if anyone has been there really recently and can tell me what it was like?"

This a fairly typical forum post about crime in Mexico and this person specifies a particular place.

This person claims to have done research on the crime issue. The problem is that the vast majority of websites this person more than likely encountered were in English and the info was someone's subjective opinions. You will not encounter, generally, someone who quotes stats or interviews from Mexican nationals because they are incapable of speaking Spanish.

This is the major problem. If you want to research "crime in Mexico" you have to be able to read the Mexican print media and listen to the Mexican television news programs. They report daily on the crime issue and their view is that crime is on the increase EVERYWHERE in Mexico.

Let me restate for emphasis: If you want to know whether crime is rampant in Puerto Vallarta or anywhere else in Mexico, you have to consult local news, national news, in both print and television (radio).

An all too tragic reply by "Gringolandians" who mostly live part time in Mexico will be tell you some along the line of, "Don't listen to Foxnews," as if Foxnews was reporting inaccurate news.

Gringolandian's reply to poster: "When you say "crime in Mexico", do you mean petty crime, major crime or narco-violence? Crime is all over the world. (Please turn off Fox News)"

Rather than showing themselves in possession of any facts about crime in Mexico the Gringolandian will blame a Straw Man, and in this case it's Foxnews.

No facts, just absurdity.

Gringolandians are deluded. So disenchanted are they with what America has devolved into they are searching for a "pipe dream" and not reality.

The Gringolandian reply to the Vallarta inquirer also said this: "Many of my friends in Illinois are very concerned for me since I plan to move to Bucerias as soon as it will be possible. To me, it's like living in a small town in the U.S. Things are a lot the way things were 50-60 years ago in small-town America, except that there are ATM's and Internet cafes."

See what I mean. So desirous are they of a time and place in America long over and forgotten by realists, that they move to Mexico looking back over their pipe-dream shoulders for something that does not exist. Their delusions will not allow them to come to terms with the fact that 21 century Mexico is not America 50-60 years ago. Again, I say, just absurdities.

Just like in America crime has spread beyond the "other side of the tracks" and is affecting everyone, everywhere, and in every situation.

If you read the Mexican newspapers and watch the national Mexican news, you will see commentators and even local citizen that are beginning to be harbingers for Mexicans to wake up.

Gringolandians haven't a clue because they depend on their own little circle of social incest for news as to what is going on around them.