A News Article of Interest to Expats in Mexico

This rather obscure article appeared on Google Mexico news this morning and should be of interest to those planning to move to Mexico and considering whether to settle in an urban, built up area or in an isolated region remote from neighbors, family or friends as the subject expat of this news story did, in this case, at immeasurable personal cost. I am posting this not to alarm any reader but because I think the incident reported by a local paper in Minnesota is instructive for the rest of us committed to living in this beautiful country. What happened to this guy could as easily have happened to him had he decided to move to the remote California backwoods and associate with people with whom he is unfamiliar. To each his own but be aware of the downside.



http://www.startribune.com/local/south/199972301.html

Thanks, Bubba so sad. The stories are always the same only the names change. Wish I had a peso for all the times . . .

This name sounds familiar to me tho.

Got a copy of that article in an email from my brother (in MN) telling me to be careful.

Understand his concern, but just goes to show the way some people think about Mexico.
I'm sure I could find 10 similar about instance occurring in MN within the past week.

Juanrey
Are you aware of what has happened in your backyard, Chapala, Ajijic and Jo co since December? Kidnappings , extortions, murders, crooked cops just to mention a few things . Do you really think this happen in a small town in MN?

You have to be kidding or totally out to lunch.

Mexico earned its reputation fair and square. Yes it is what people thing about Mexico, even Mexicans think that way, even more so than the out to lunch foreigners. .

juanrey wrote:Got a copy of that article in an email from my brother (in MN) telling me to be careful.

Understand his concern, but just goes to show the way some people think about Mexico.
I'm sure I could find 10 similar about instance occurring in MN within the past week.

Really? Could you provide us with a link to even one such case that could reasonably called "similar"?

Trailrunner:

The name that sounded familiar to me was the "Barron" middle name. Barron is the last name of a large Mormon clan in the State of Chihuahua. They have been in the news for troubles with cartels and other groups in their area.

Barron Felix is probably the complete apellido...last name

CheenaGringo wrote:Trailrunner:

The name that sounded familiar to me was the "Barron" middle name. Barron is the last name of a large Mormon clan in the State of Chihuahua. They have been in the news for troubles with cartels and other groups in their area.

I didn't even notice the middle name. Kyle Kester is the name that is familiar to me. . . Can't place it tho.

We had a long conversation with a retired doctor whom we met at the Chili Cookout. This man didn't hold back, and made us feel that maybe our heads really are in the sand.
Amongst the statements that he made, was that 80% of the local Mexicans had received telephone threats at one time or another..these calls were not limited to wealthy Mexicans.
His contempt for the local authorities was alarming, as was his warning that the gringo population only see the wonderful weather, the flowers and the lake, and don't know about the underside of life here. We can only hope that he's exaggerating, but it's served as a wake-up call.

Nosnow wrote:We had a long conversation with a retired doctor whom we met at the Chili Cookout. This man didn't hold back, and made us feel that maybe our heads really are in the sand.
Amongst the statements that he made, was that 80% of the local Mexicans had received telephone threats at one time or another..these calls were not limited to wealthy Mexicans.
His contempt for the local authorities was alarming, as was his warning that the gringo population only see the wonderful weather, the flowers and the lake, and don't know about the underside of life here. We can only hope that he's exaggerating, but it's served as a wake-up call.

i am happy that i am a "hoser" then, and don't fall into your doctor friend's generalization. 80% seems somewhat of an exaggeration,by the way. did he do a statistical survey with the proper +/- ratios?

I'm from MN and a couple things most recently in the news there that I can think of that has happened are:

1. a 30 something man is arrested on enough evidence (but no body) to charge him with murder in the disappearance of his wife.

2. some guy randomly shooting at passing by cars, killing the 9 year old son of a girl I went to jr high and high school with.


The summer of 2010, before I moved here, in my neighborhood in North Minneapolis, at least 5 teenagers were shot to death within a 2 block radius of my house.

Stuff happens everywhere. I'm definitely aware of a lot of stuff going on here lakeside that is never reported on here or other places online.

I would listen to what the doctor said, ok may be it 60% or 75 or 50%who cares, a lot of people are getting threatening phone calls. A lot of my Mexican friends and neighbors have received them, some calls are pretending they have a member of the family crying out for help in the backgtround, some saying they are the Zetas or some other group asking for money and all types of other stories.

It is easier not to get them if you hang up because you do not understand Spanish.

brigitte wrote:I would listen to what the doctor said, ok may be it 60% or 75 or 50%who cares, a lot of people are getting threatening phone calls. A lot of my Mexican friends and neighbors have received them, some calls are pretending they have a member of the family crying out for help in the backgtround, some saying they are the Zetas or some other group asking for money and all types of other stories.

It is easier not to get them if you hang up because you do not understand Spanish.

I got an extortion phone call one day. My phone bill is in my landlord's name (mexican landlord).

When I answered the call, it sounded like a small child crying "mama". I think I said "what?" and when the crying voice repeated "mama" I could tell it was really an adult male, trying to sound like a small crying child. I burst out laughing. They hung up.

Yes bad things are, and have been, going on in Mexico for a number of years and it has a reputation for being dangerous that is well deserved. So, what is new?
Is there something that can be done about it? Doubtful.
Will it work itself out? Probably
Can we do anything to help the affected Mexican friends? Doubtful
Are some people going to leave? Probably
Are some people going to refrain from coming down? Probably
It's a shame, but not much anyone on these boards is going to do about it.
When people say "He opened my eyes", what does that mean. Now that your awareness has increased, what are you going to do differently?

Here we go again! What the heck does what is happening in Minnesota have to do with the Lake Chapala area? I can guarantee you that people in Minnesota are not rationalizing their crime situation by comparing it with Lake Chapala! What do you think would be the reaction of the good people of Minnesota had they come upon the following scene at a traffic circle on their way to church on a Sunday morning:
[img][/img]

saege007 wrote:

brigitte wrote:I would listen to what the doctor said, ok may be it 60% or 75 or 50%who cares, a lot of people are getting threatening phone calls. A lot of my Mexican friends and neighbors have received them, some calls are pretending they have a member of the family crying out for help in the backgtround, some saying they are the Zetas or some other group asking for money and all types of other stories.

It is easier not to get them if you hang up because you do not understand Spanish.

I got an extortion phone call one day. My phone bill is in my landlord's name (mexican landlord).

When I answered the call, it sounded like a small child crying "mama". I think I said "what?" and when the crying voice repeated "mama" I could tell it was really an adult male, trying to sound like a small crying child. I burst out laughing. They hung up.

I suspect there will be something in the news in the next day or so that will have people taking extortion calls more seriously.

Ricardo:

Unless this example involves a Gringo, the same/same will prevail because it does not matter if it is a Mexican in so many people's minds!

Ricardo wrote:I suspect there will be something in the news in the next day or so that will have people taking extortion calls more seriously.

I would have taken it more seriously if it had actually been a child crying, if I had small children that lived down here, or if it had been more realistic in any way.


Gringos HAVE been being extorted down here. I know quite a few people who have gotten the "relative is in the area wants to visit, has an accident and needs money for medical bills, etc." call.

They have not been kidnapped for ransom and killed.

brigitte wrote:They have not been kidnapped for ransom and killed.

true, I was just talking about the extortion call part of things happening - which can lead to many different directions.

For folks who have been down here a while. Meth has really changed things
NOB and violence is very common even in what were very safe towns. They
kill each other, steal, whatever to get a fix. I am not saying that Mexico and
the US are the same but things are changing up north. In rural area they do
not have jail cells for the women criminals/addicts. It was smart when patroling
our old house neighborhood to public carry a gun which is pretty
depressing. My gun advice came from the cops who helped to keep the
situation under control. Nothing like stepping off your back porch to see
someone shooting up in front of children of the neighborhood. Just before
we left Oregon they sent the police in full riot gear. Haz mat people to clean
up all the poop and whatever. Don't know what happened after we left but
meth really changes the situation violence wise at least in the PNW.

Z