# Crime in Chiapas



## asefchick (Jan 16, 2020)

We are planning to move to Mexico next year. I lived there until 2001. My freinds and family say there is a lot of crime and insecurity. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with crime and extorsion? Any knowledge about crime in San Cristobal de las Casas? 

Any information and/or opinions are welcome. 

Maria


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Who knows . Lots of news do not make the papers or tv.. so it s hard to tell. I have lived down here 15 years , do my own tngs and so far so good. I do not go out alone at nght.. I walk everywhere and never had any problems . If I am alone I take cabs home at night. I live in el cerrillo near the mercado so it is not the safest place at night but I know it and never had a problem. The neighbors watchout for each other and all the houses are adjoinng each other so it is pretty safe...
I work and travelled a lot n indigenous communites so that s how I hear about crime and lately there has been quite a few buses being assaulted.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Last week a tourism bus was attacked by a group of armed guys who descended on the bus with 5 pick ups in the middle of Amatenango. The tourists blamed the people from Amatenango but my godson told me it was a group from Comitan who attacks cars on the highway who did it.. The bus driver panicked when he was surrounded by the bad guys, the police from Amatenango and the people from Amatenango who came out to help and ran over a policeman when he drove off to get out of the mess , then the town people got mad and scred the heck out of the tourists who believed they were going to burn the wole bunch alive..This happened at 8 oclock at night in the middle of town when the bus stopped to let people buy at the portal in Amatenango. Now the tourists are posting that Amatenango people are dangerous... a mess and misunderstanding as usual..

net net, one bad guy caught , one dead policeman and that in a middle of a town on the international highway ..you just never know.


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

Asefchick - so much can happen/change over the course of a year - good and bad.

One piece of news I noticed very recently was that an American tourist family had their SUV taken from them by four armed gunmen on the road to Taxco. They were found by passers-by walking afterwards. Haven't seen that mentioned anywhere else...


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I arrived in 2001 and as everyone says.. lots of things have changed and security has gotten way worse than 20years ago but thngs come and go in waves so there is no telling within a year what will happen. In Jalisco t got very bad 4 or 5 years ago and it got better and n the Lake Chapal area it is gettng worse again. People , very young people are disappearing and new gangs seem to be hanging out in new places, future will tell.

In Chiapas it is more difficult to say as there is very little info in the papers but my maid tells me it is worse than ever.. I really do not know what is the truth here and live here and know many people..


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## BeryBery (Jan 18, 2020)

I'm from Los Angeles - been in San Cristóal for 28 years. I feel much safer here. Unlike the person who said they don't go out at night in El Cerrillo - I live in El Cerrillo and would walk home at midnight alone. It's kinds of like, where ever you go, there you are.


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

. . . living in San Cristobal de Las Casas . . . I have been spending time is this colonial city in the mountains since 2005 . . . and just last year realized my dream of living half the year here, and half back in the Sierra. What do I say, my worst experiences were on the Cuota (toll roads) driving through Puebla by the Municipal Policia . . . extortion . . . en San Cristobal de Las Casas, mis vecinos en barrio de guadalupe also watch out for each other, yet there was a shooting murder in diciembre 2019 (robbery of person carrying lots of money - mi vecina told me.) I've said this before, my neighbors want what most of us want - safety . . . yet earlier tonight reading on Mexico Daily News, articles mention that the "bad guys & gals" are being released from police custody by the judicial folks . . . seems like almost everyday . . . which supports the conviction rate in Mexico at about 2 percent of all reported crimes . . . it is no wonder that the "bad guys" have nothing to fear in their actions - against locals and tourists . . . and yet I return to the good hearts of the Mexican people, who want to live without fear . . . come on AMLO . . . con una sonrisa . . .


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

This has nothing to do with Chiapas, but I'm starting fieldwork in la Huasteca veracruzana and my co-workers told me not to go there, it's unsafe. In Poza Rica my acquaintances tell me it is better than it used to be, whatever that means.

The other day, as I headed up into the sierra from Poza Rica a federal policeman stopped me. He wanted to know what I was doing there. When I explained to him I work at a university up in the sierra, he shook my hand and let me go. I should have asked him about safety in the area, but I didn't think to ask until I was on my way.

Like others have mentioned, there are perceptions and realities in Mexico, often unreported. 

I could never do research in Chiapas, however. Ever since the Zapatista rebellion of 1 January 1994, it has become institutionalized and somewhat zoo-like. At least it's not for me.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I have indigenous friends in that area and they tell me there are quite a few assaults...but if it is better than it used to be , all is fine, just do not travel with valuables.


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