# Acapulco



## Guategringo

I just want to tell the entire expat community in Mexico or any foreigners traveling in Mexico to be extra careful. Last night seven women from Spain were raped and the seven men who were with them were tied up and beaten while the women were raped. The couples had been staying in resort in Acapulco. Fifteen men took part in the crime and all had masks covering their faces. They also took cellular phones, cameras, cash and other valuables including passports. 

Be extra careful, especially all the expats in and around the Acapulco area.


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## mickisue1

It's a good idea to say that people in the Acapulco area need to be extra careful.

But would you have said that all the foreigners in the US needed to be extra careful, after the school shooting in CT? It's just as incomprehensible to extrapolate to the entire country of MX.


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## Guategringo

mickisue1 said:


> It's a good idea to say that people in the Acapulco area need to be extra careful.
> 
> But would you have said that all the foreigners in the US needed to be extra careful, after the school shooting in CT? It's just as incomprehensible to extrapolate to the entire country of MX.


Mickisue you are incredible!!! I love Latin America more than someone born here. the last line of my post said especially all those living in Acapulco. I am not coming down on the country. ALSO and more importantly the people who were killed in the Connectcut shooting lived in Connecticut as did those in Aurora, Colorado, and the other places there were mass killings in the U.S. BUT these people were visitors and could have been Americans, Germans or Brazilians. The point is they were visitors and expats are visitors as well especially when they vacation within Mexico.... Therefore in my humble opinion it is best to warn the masses and be covered... I am not hitting out at Mexico since it will be my home in a month...you should stop being defensive and look at the big picture. If this happened in acapulco why not Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Cuernavaca or anywhere else there are TOURISTS!!!


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## Longford

If someone wants to report crime news, that's fine with me. But we'd need an entire branch of this forum page to do that ... for all of Mexico. And there will need to be one for Guatemala, as well. The Chat portion of the forum is probably where they best fit.

I think it's best when "reporting" things that the reporters provide links to published reports, where they exist. Such as in this instance. Reading things for ourselves is oftentimes more informative.

Here's a link to the story about the crimes being reported in this discussion, which took place on the extreme outskirts of Acapulco - Playa Bonfil (if the published reports are accurate) - where it's a bit more isolated and not in the principal tourism zones. Though, Playa Bonfil isn't all that far by car from the Diamante (a/k/a "New Acapulco") district.

Gang of armed masked men rapes 6 Spanish tourists in Mexican resort of Acapulco - The Washington Post

Acapulco's been high on the list of places warned about. Together with the entire state of Michoacan (which includes Morelia and Patzcuaro), Mazatlan and much of the entire Northern section of the mainland of Mexico.

Here's another link, to the U.S. Department of State Travel Warning for Mexico. It's about as specific as such a Warning can get and provides some background as to the challengs one may face traveling about. 

U.S. Department of State - Travel Warning for Mexico

Residents, including expats, tend to know more than the infrequent visitor ... but not always. So it's good to keep abreast of developments and published reports regarding problems.


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## Guategringo

Longford said:


> If someone wants to report crime news, that's fine with me. But we'd need an entire branch of this forum page to do that ... for all of Mexico. And there will need to be one for Guatemala, as well. The Chat portion of the forum is probably where they best fit.


Longford I agree there should be a page just to report crimes and like you said should be backed up with evidence.. I just happened to see the report on the local news here in Guatemala and wanted to report it. 

A couple of comments on your post. Not sure why you need a crime page on Guatemala on a Mexico forum. First crime does not cross the border from Guatemala to Mexico, it crosses from Mexico to Guatemala. In the past three to four years Zetas have moved into the border towns in Guatemala because the previous government here did nothing to stop them. 

Secondly, it really does not matter whether the rape incident was in downtown Acapulco or in some remote area nearby, the problem is it happened and should be worrisome and important to people. It should not be considered any less important if it occurred in a US$25 per night bungalow instead of a US$250 five star hotel.

I hope it is an isolated event and I hope they find those involved. The mayor of Acapulco said it could have happened anywhere in the world. Truth is he is right, but the fact is it happened on is watch.


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## vantexan

It's been awhile since it happened, but there were a number of murders of tourists, especially German tourists, in Florida back in the late 90's. Mainly in Miami, but also at a couple of highway rest areas, one in the Panhandle. Tourism took a dive, resources were spent to protect rest areas, and steps were taken to arrest the perpetrators in Miami, who were targeting rental car drivers out of the Miami airport. And rental cars leaving there no longer bear the bumper stickers of the rental agency. It may have happened, but I never heard Floridians saying that this kind of thing could happen in Cancun or Acapulco, so stop picking on Florida. Fact is that there are places in the U.S. that ARE dangerous, but if I'm a victim in Acapulco I'm not going to care that it could have happened in Chicago. If I'm going to Chicago I want to know what areas to stay out of. If I'm looking to visit Acapulco, and have heard of serious cartel activity there, or a group of Europeans were brutally terrorized, I want to know if it's ok currently to go there. And if I'm going to a place who's primary industry is tourism, I want to know that the local authorities are making sure that comparatively wealthy tourists are safe and secure. And if a guy does put a pistol to my head, I assure you I'm not going to think "It's no big deal, this happens in New York all the time". YMMV.


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## mickisue1

vantexan said:


> It's been awhile since it happened, but there were a number of murders of tourists, especially German tourists, in Florida back in the late 90's. Mainly in Miami, but also at a couple of highway rest areas, one in the Panhandle. Tourism took a dive, resources were spent to protect rest areas, and steps were taken to arrest the perpetrators in Miami, who were targeting rental car drivers out of the Miami airport. And rental cars leaving there no longer bear the bumper stickers of the rental agency. It may have happened, but I never heard Floridians saying that this kind of thing could happen in Cancun or Acapulco, so stop picking on Florida. Fact is that there are places in the U.S. that ARE dangerous, but if I'm a victim in Acapulco I'm not going to care that it could have happened in Chicago. If I'm going to Chicago I want to know what areas to stay out of. If I'm looking to visit Acapulco, and have heard of serious cartel activity there, or a group of Europeans were brutally terrorized, I want to know if it's ok currently to go there. And if I'm going to a place who's primary industry is tourism, I want to know that the local authorities are making sure that comparatively wealthy tourists are safe and secure. And if a guy does put a pistol to my head, I assure you I'm not going to think "It's no big deal, this happens in New York all the time". YMMV.


I was thinking about this exact example, but the point was that it happened in FL then, and it's happened in Acapulco, now.

When it was going on in FL, people weren't suggesting that tourists in San Diego were at risk because of it, nor those in NYC, or even Hilton Head.

The point is that there are places and times where violence occurs. ABSOLUTELY, exercise extreme caution in those places at those times.

But to extrapolate from a particular place, even if it's a whole state, as with the rest area murders in FL, to an entire country, is to do the rest of the country and potential visitors a disservice.


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## vantexan

mickisue1 said:


> I was thinking about this exact example, but the point was that it happened in FL then, and it's happened in Acapulco, now.
> 
> When it was going on in FL, people weren't suggesting that tourists in San Diego were at risk because of it, nor those in NYC, or even Hilton Head.
> 
> The point is that there are places and times where violence occurs. ABSOLUTELY, exercise extreme caution in those places at those times.
> 
> But to extrapolate from a particular place, even if it's a whole state, as with the rest area murders in FL, to an entire country, is to do the rest of the country and potential visitors a disservice.


That's fair, I'm just reacting to all the times on many forums if someone points out serious problems of any sort in Mexico some will always say this stuff happens in the States too. I don't go to bad areas of major cities, don't get drunk in bars, generally avoid risky behavior. If someone asks about or informs about criminal activity in Mexico on Mexico-centric forums I want to hear information about Mexico, not what goes on in places I have no intention to visit in the States. And Mexico has unique problems that should be addressed, not glossed over.


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## cscscs007

Thank you Guategringo for posting this. I was aware of the incident in Acapulco but I did not know that 15 individuals committed this horrendous crime.


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## diablita

I've been living a few miles outside of Acapulco for the past 15 years with no problems. No tourists come to where I live and I have never encountered another expat either. The press in the USA and other parts of the world badmouth Acapulco frequently just as they are doing now. Crime can happen anywhere. It's just how things are. Period!


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## vantexan

diablita said:


> I've been living a few miles outside of Acapulco for the past 15 years with no problems. No tourists come to where I live and I have never encountered another expat either. The press in the USA and other parts of the world badmouth Acapulco frequently just as they are doing now. Crime can happen anywhere. It's just how things are. Period!


But you have to admit masked men raping a group of foreign women and beating their husbands/boyfriends for many hours is the kind of stuff that gets attention. Sounds like something in a bad action movie.


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## Guategringo

diablita said:


> I've been living a few miles outside of Acapulco for the past 15 years with no problems. No tourists come to where I live and I have never encountered another expat either. The press in the USA and other parts of the world badmouth Acapulco frequently just as they are doing now. Crime can happen anywhere. It's just how things are. Period!


How can you call it bad mouthing Acapulco. Men tied up other men with telephone cord and electrical wires and raped women for over 2 hours!!! That is telling it like it is, not bad mouthing. Acapulco is not bad mouthed it was ONCE considered a hideaway for Hollywood stars. Liz Taylor was married there, but since the drug wars took to the main streets and beheading took place newspapers started to write articles that warned about traveling there. Now this and the only thing the mayor of Acapulco can say is it could happend anywhere in the world. But it did not, it happend in your back yard...


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## Longford

diablita said:


> The press in the USA and other parts of the world badmouth Acapulco frequently just as they are doing now.


The "press" is a convenient 'whipping boy.' Let's execute the messenger, because we don't like a particular message being delivered. And railing against the press based in the USA is commonplace ... again when someone is uncomfortable with the message being relayed. The report of the mass rapes in Acapulco was first reported in the Mexican press. By the press in Acapulco. It was a local story and reported as such. It was reported as a 'page one' story and such reports catch the eye of many people - including the international (not just "USA") press. Though none of us participating in this discussion knows what really happened, I have the sense that I haven't seen anything in the reports which blows the incident(s) out of proportion. I've read the local, Spanish-language reports and reports in the international media (including one from the BBC). The 'bad rap' Acapulco has gotten these past several years is justified, given the horrendous rate of homicides and violence. And tourists visiting are understandably taken aback when encountering the thousands of heavily-armed soldiers patrolling the city. All of this having been said, I still love visiting Acapulco and am working on plans for a trip I want to take there next month. I've visited Acapulco scores of times over a 31 year period, and when I visit I almost always spend some time at the beach area where this attack took place - Playa Bonfil. I take the position that the more information we have about a particular area the better-off we are to make informed decisions affecting our behavior and safety.


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## diablita

Just as I thought. The opinion of someone who lives in the area is discounted. I'll go back to keeping my thoughts to myself as I should have done this time.


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## Longford

diablita said:


> Just as I thought. The opinion of someone who lives in the area is discounted. I'll go back to keeping my thoughts to myself as I should have done this time.


You offered an opinion about press coverage you think is too harsh or unfair. Just reporting in the press of the USA and other countries. Not the reports from Mexico which were sent by the Mexican press to their international contacts/partners from which the international reporting originated. Interesting that you will make that distinction. Have you seen the reporting in Novedades, El Sur and El Sol (all local Acapulco newspapers), or watched the news feeds on Televisa originating from Acapulco? :ranger:

So several people who read your comments offered their opinions about what you said and you seem not to like the content or tone of the responses. You're going to take your 'ball and bat' and play elsewhere, at least on the topic of this discussion. This is a discussion thread, not a bulletin board where people post things and never return. There's give and take, and a lack of unanimity is expected in just about any discussion. That's life at web forums. :rain:

Frankly, I don't see where the comments you offered (or the comments of anyone else) are entitled to be suppported to a greater, or lesser extent than comments from others participating in the discussion. The responses to your comments have related to, as I'm reading them, your perceptions of the seriousness of the incidents which caused this discussioin to start in the first place and also the frequency of crimes generally and how they're replorted on in the press. As for the specifics of this incident, you don't live in Acapulco nor at Playa Bonfil. And none of the rest do, either.  

Thanks.


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## Longford

Some broader detail about the incident is included in the local Acapulco newspaper report, which you can see/read when you click on this link (in Spanish, only): Indicios firmes para dar con los violadores: PGJE


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## mes1952

Anyone who is living in the U.S. probably has a very high false sense of security especially if they only read government-issued news reports and/or government-influenced news media. This is why it is important to read those beyond this scope otherwise there is a false sense of security right at home in the U.S.
Violence is everywhere in the world and the U.S. is certainly not immune to that.

Want to know why your government (the U.S.) is NOT winning the war against drugs despite the BILLIONS OF DOLLARS spent? This explains everything:
U.S. Continues to Cut Cushy Deals with Drug Traffickers
Borderland Beat: US Continues to Cut Cushy Deals With Drug Traffickers

How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown?
Gun-death tally: Every American gun death since Newtown Sandy Hook shooting (INTERACTIVE). - Slate Magazine


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## mes1952

I've lived in Baja in Tijuana which has the highest # of drug addicts in Mexico and never had any problems. I drive across the border early in the a.m. and at night. So it's all a matter of perspective.


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## mickisue1

The point here is not that we who still live in the US might have a false sense of security.

The point is that, in the Acapulco area, RIGHT NOW, there are at large some very, very bad men who entered a tourist resort with the intent of terrorizing some tourists, and did so for an extended period of time without being observed.

That's a bad thing, whether it happened down the road from you or across the globe.

Does MX, as a country, get bad press, especially in the US and Canada? Yes, it does. The idea that an entire country as large and diverse as MX is fraught with danger is as silly as the idea that the US is.

There is, of course, danger in both places. To discount that danger is to be foolish. As is claiming that a discussion of a particular incident in a particular area is badmouthing that area.

Back in the 1990's, my city was given the nickname "Murderopolis", due to the high numbers of murders that were occurring. I was living in an eastern suburb, raising four kids alone and commuting in and out of Minneapolis everyday. I took precautions, and did not and would not have driven in certain parts of the city at night.

The nickname may have been unfair, but till Minneapolis cleaned up the gangs and lowered the murder rates, it was, however unfair, unlikely to go away.

Some really bad things have happened in Acapulco in the past decade, and the bad things were directed against tourists. If the city and the resort owners want the bad rep they have gotten to go away, they need to clean it up, as well.


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## Guategringo

Just a follow up, six of the alleged rapists have been arrested by mexican authorities and two have been identified by the victims.

Detienen a los presuntos violadores de Acapulco


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## Longford

Guategringo said:


> Just a follow up, six of the alleged rapists have been arrested by mexican authorities and two have been identified by the victims.
> 
> Detienen a los presuntos violadores de Acapulco


Particularly in Mexico, where the "facts" often either don't ever see the light of day or are slow to seep-out into the public eye ... I've found it important when thinking about incidents such as this not to rush to judgment and/or assume things. In time, and sometimes it takes a lot of time ... we usually learn what really happened.

Regarding this incident, there are sll sorts of theories being circulated. One is that the people in the house where the women were attacked made a drug purchase, or purchases, from one or more of the attackers and the buy wasn't amicable. So, the story goes ... the drug dealers took retribution by attacking the women and making the men watch. The Mexican woman in the group was, reportedly, not harmed. And if this were merely a power/domination attack one might think all of the women would have been raped ... without regard to their nationality.

As for the arrests, and confessions: It's well understood in Acapulco and Guerrero that just because the "authorities" say they've captured the culprets and that one or more or all have confessed ... they don't always, probably not usally, tell the truth about such things. Generally, the worst of the worst or the most uneducated become policemen or investigators. The conviction rate in Acapulco, Guerrero and most of Mexico is horrendously low. The criminal justice system, including the judiciary is rife with ineptness and corruption. 

We have here something which has generated interest not only in the media in Mexico, but Spain and other countries and local tourism boosters want to put the issue behind them. These forces sometimes care less about facts than about images.

I do hope they catch the men who attacked the women. But I'm not convinced that has happened yet.


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## Guategringo

I completely agree with you that the arrests could have been trumped up and just displayed on television and in newspapers to put an end to the story.. I have seen it all too often here in Guatemala as well. However, I read in one of the dozens of articles I have read in both Spansh and English a quote by one of the victims where she identified one of them... for what its worth!!!

A few years ago a bus that had American tourists here in Guatemala was stopped and female college students from the U.S. were sexually assaulted. Within a week, the culprits were found and shown on all four of the major television stations here and in all the newspapers. However, after that nothing was every heard again about them.. if they were tried or not, who knows...


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## Longford

Guategringo said:


> A few years ago a bus that had American tourists here in Guatemala was stopped and female college students from the U.S. were sexually assaulted. Within a week, the culprits were found and shown on all four of the major television stations here and in all the newspapers. However, after that nothing was every heard again about them.. if they were tried or not, who knows...


A couple or several years ago, a group of 20 men from the state of Michoacan who were in Acapulco for a 'guys week' vacation, men of varying ages and professions/careers, and who made one such 'road trip' yearly to a different destination, were kidnapped in the heart of the tourist zone in Acapulco. Local "authorities" said, for some time, the men were part of a competing drug cartel and in town for bad purposes. Up to no good. 

The local media played along with the 'bad guy' line of thinking reinforced by law enforcement authorities. Tourists aren't impacted by the drug war, they said. What was the group doing in ACA when they weren't with women, etc. Suspicious. The end of the story: They were asassinated by some of the domestic terrorists who thought they were competing cartel guys. But ... they were really tourists. Innocent bystanders were really on vacation and found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. They stopped at a convenience store for beverages before checking-in at their hotel. 

There have been thousands of 'innocent bystanders' killed and maimed in this war. In many parts of the country. And the "media" outside of Mexico pays very little attention to any of it.


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## alexdz

mes1952 said:


> Anyone who is living in the U.S. probably has a very high false sense of security especially if they only read government-issued news reports and/or government-influenced news media. This is why it is important to read those beyond this scope otherwise there is a false sense of security right at home in the U.S.
> Violence is everywhere in the world and the U.S. is certainly not immune to that.
> .
> .
> .


On the contrary, people in the US have a false sense of in-security. Crime is down pretty much everywhere over the long term, to record levels, yet fear is on the upswing. There were 414 (?) murders in NYC last year--when I last lived there in the early 80's the numbers were in the 1600's, and over 2000 in 1990. On top of that violent crime still mostly affects a relatively small segment of the population. Aurora and Newton are anomalies, much like shark bites. Tragic, but it's probably not going to happen to you.

When I hear all the talk at work about people needing guns and house alarms in Fairfax County, VA where I live I can only shake my head. Nothing against guns and alarms mind you, just the idea that they're so badly needed for home defense. It's great business for manufacturers and ADT though. Economic stimulus and all that.

Anyway, I blame Ted Turner.


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## Guategringo

mickisue1 said:


> It's a good idea to say that people in the Acapulco area need to be extra careful.
> 
> But would you have said that all the foreigners in the US needed to be extra careful, after the school shooting in CT? It's just as incomprehensible to extrapolate to the entire country of MX.


I guess all foreigners in the U.S. should be worried since a Australian tourist was rapedi in Manhattan.... Mickisue you should be pleased with this

Police hunt for suspect in rape of Australian tourist in Manhattan | Fox News


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## mickisue1

Guategringo said:


> I guess all foreigners in the U.S. should be worried since a Australian tourist was rapedi in Manhattan.... Mickisue you should be pleased with this
> 
> Police hunt for suspect in rape of Australian tourist in Manhattan | Fox News


All the Americans in the country need to be worried because of the ease of availability of assault weapons and large capacity clips. The little boy who died the night before last in a suburb in my area was killed by a guy "heavily armed" who shot rounds of bullets at passing cars.

The alleged perpetrator has a last name that sounds Hmong. My guess is that it will turn out that he has severe PTSD--a lot of the refugees from the Pol Pot regime experienced incredible terrors.

In a country where it's legal to obtain weapons of mass destruction with little oversight, we ALL need to be afraid, at least somewhat.


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## Guategringo

Did anyone read about the Belgian businessmen who was shot and killed on Saturday in a shopping center parking lot in Acapulco? He had a heavy equipment business in the country. 
Mexico police say Belgian killed in Acapulco was resident businessman with international firm - The Washington Post

Sounds to me like a bad business deal...


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## johnmex

Guategringo said:


> Did anyone read about the Belgian businessmen who was shot and killed on Saturday in a shopping center parking lot in Acapulco? He had a heavy equipment business in the country.
> Mexico police say Belgian killed in Acapulco was resident businessman with international firm - The Washington Post
> 
> Sounds to me like a bad business deal...


Where did you get that from the article?


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## Guategringo

johnmex said:


> Where did you get that from the article?


Sorry I forgot to attach the second article...Belgian killed in Mexico had been threatened - San Jose Mercury News


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## Guategringo

Someone was real upset with me when I said all expats need to be careful because of the women from Spain who were raped in Acapulco... I was told I could not consider the entire country unsafe for what happened in Acapulco, I never said it was... well an Italian tourist was raped in Playa del Carmen... quite a distance from Acapulco I would say. Please keep an eye out where ever you are and be safe...
Playa del Carmen rape: Mexican police officers charged after woman 'failed to pay bribe' after leaving nightclub | Mail Online


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## TundraGreen

Guategringo said:


> Someone was real upset with me when I said all expats need to be careful because of the women from Spain who were raped in Acapulco... I was told I could not consider the entire country unsafe for what happened in Acapulco, I never said it was... well an Italian tourist was raped in Playa del Carmen... quite a distance from Acapulco I would say. Please keep an eye out where ever you are and be safe...
> Playa del Carmen rape: Mexican police officers charged after woman 'failed to pay bribe' after leaving nightclub | Mail Online


In Mexico, according to one web site* there were 13.2 rapes/100,000 population in 2010. The same year, in the US there were 27.3 rapes/100,000 population. And those numbers were typical of the years 2003-2010, the rate in the US runs a little over double the rate in Mexico. I understand the rate of reporting may differ in the two countries.

If you are going to be reporting every one to us here, I will have to stop reading your posts. 

*Rape statistics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Anonimo

It's a possibility that rapes are more frequently reported to authorities in the U.S. than in Mexico. Just saying.


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## Guategringo

Out of respect for Tundra I will not post anything more regarding crimes against expats.


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## TundraGreen

Guategringo said:


> Out of respect for Tundra I will not post anything more regarding crimes against expats.


I was expressing a personal opinion, not a moderator ruling. You are free to post anything you like within the rules.


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## mickisue1

The issue is not that crimes are reported. It's that a logical fallacy is being committed: extrapolating from isolated incidents to an entire country.

Unfortunately, women must ALWAYS be on the watch for their safety. That said, more women in the US are raped by people who they know than by strangers. My guess is that it's pretty much the same in MX.


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## Longford

An "update" on this incident, and the allegations: It now appears/is being reported that the women who had reported having been raped declined the opportunity to be examined/tested to determine of rape had occurred. Therefore, the men arrested following the allegations were released on bail ... and the charge against them has been reduced to robbery.

Here's a (March 11, 2013) news report I 'stumbled across' this afternoon (in Spanish) which discusses the case: Podrían liberar a implicados en abuso sexual de turistas españolas [Guerrero Seguridad] - 11/03/2013 | Periódico Zócalo

I think I said this before, but it's more than likely we'll never know what happened that night.


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## Ananda

Hello Diablito,
I just wanted to get to know about your experience a bit if I could. We have decided to relocated to either Mexico or South America. I'm trying to gather information in order to make a decision. 
I was wondering how you find the people there in general. Are they friendly, anti-american or clickish? 
I will probably think of a lot more questions, if you don't mind.
Thanks


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## Hound Dog

[_QUOTE=Ananda;1165824]Hello Diablito,
I just wanted to get to know about your experience a bit if I could. We have decided to relocated to either Mexico or South America. I'm trying to gather information in order to make a decision. 
I was wondering how you find the people there in general. Are they friendly, anti-american or clickish? 
I will probably think of a lot more questions, if you don't mind.
Thanks[/QUOTE]_

Ananda:

Since this forum started out as an inquiry on the Guererro tourist town of Acapulco, your question may be a bit of diversion but I will answer your inquiry as best I can and then answer further questions if you present them.

The people I have met over the past 12 years living in Mexico, and I am now speaking of Meixcans primarily, are neither unfriendly, antagonistic toward foreigners nor (outwardly) cliquish but at least "clannish" as is typical of all of Latin America. If anything, the most cliquish and unpleasant people hereabouts, and this is an oversimplification, can be found among the foreign colony here, especially where those foreigeners congregate in large numbers relative to the size of their chosen communities. 

Mexico is a very friendly and accepting country for expats but if one comes here to deal in the drug trade or congregate with whores and pimps, I would suggest the Seychelles as a viable alternative. I have never lived in South America but, if asked, I would suggest Highland Colombia as a fine place to live but I would choose my frineds carefully there as well just as I wouild in Atlanta or Birmingham.

Good luck on finding a place in the sun and let me know if you have more quetions. My suggestoins are central to southern Mexico including Guadalajara. Colombia or maybe Peru.


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## Ananda

Thank you so much for your reply. I had originally been considering Ecuador or Chile but as I looked into it, I found the homeschooling and drug laws were not acceptable. Then I looked into Mexico and found that I can freely homeschool so the spot light is there now. 
Did you visit first before deciding to move there?


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## Isla Verde

Ananda said:


> My exhusband needs mariuana for medicine.


I see. And is he living in Mexico?


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## Ananda

No, he'll be moving with me when I choose a destination.


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## Hound Dog

[_QUOTE=vantexan;1045016]But you have to admit masked men raping a group of foreign women and beating their husbands/boyfriends for many hours is the kind of stuff that gets attention. Sounds like something in a bad action movie.[/QUOTE]_

Let´s see about the report on these Spanish tourists who were in Acapulco on vacation and reputedly contacting the creeps who assaulted them when they had earlier sought to buy drugs from these dregs of society. Let´s contemplate Mexican tourists landing in Madrid or Paris or Barcelona or Rome or a thousand other European destinations and renting an isolated villa and contacting some local neanderthals to purchase illegal drugs and I will tell you from decades of experience traveling about the world from Europe to Africa to Asias that when you find yourself in a strange plave in a starnge continent and you buy drugs from people you don´t know, you are playing wih fire.

In 1969, I spent maybe two weeks in Addis Ababa and got drunk one night with Ethiopian friends I had just met there and woke up the next day with no wallet and grateful just not to have had my throat cut. 

Dont blame Mexico because some people who come here are idiots as I was in Addis when young and stupid.

Do you have any idea what an experience it is to awake in a cheesy hotel in Addis in 1969 with no passport and no wallet and no money and no recollection of the thieves with whom you got drunk on Ethiopan liquor the night befors? Yiu do not wish to experience this. Don´t complain to me.


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## Ananda

This thread has gotten really out of hand. I was wanting real information from real time living, not accusations or insults to my intelligence.


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## Hound Dog

Deleted by poster.


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## TundraGreen

Ananda said:


> This thread has gotten really out of hand. I was wanting real information from real time living, not accusations or insults to my intelligence.


I must have missed something. Accusations and insults are prohibited.


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## diablita

Ananda said:


> Hello Diablito,
> I just wanted to get to know about your experience a bit if I could. We have decided to relocated to either Mexico or South America. I'm trying to gather information in order to make a decision.
> I was wondering how you find the people there in general. Are they friendly, anti-american or clickish?
> I will probably think of a lot more questions, if you don't mind.
> Thanks


Hello Ananda! Forgive me if I'm wrong but I think your post was directed to me so I will give you my take on living in the "periferia" of Acapulco. I have an apartment in a working class area and have been here since mid 1997. I have 2 cats and am currently taking care of 7 more-4 kittens and 3 adults-that have made my back patio their home. The majority of the folks around here are rather stand-offish with me. I have made a few friends in the neighborhood, some of which I have become very close to and we share a mutual trust. For example, this morning one of my friends kids, he's 5, knocked on my door and asked if he could stay with me for a while. He visits me a lot and likes to play on my patio with the hose and "get wet" as he puts it. In the afternoon, another friend's granddaughter
came by and asked if I could come to her apartment and help her set up a computer. But even after 15 years here many in the neighborhood still avoid talking to me. Recently I asked the girl's grandmother about why people were this way with me and she told me that they were somewhat intimidated and uncomfortable talking with me because of their low level of education and economic situation. Most of the folks around here have no more than a grade school or jr. high level of education. I'm sure it would be different if I lived in the city but it would also cost me a hell of a lot more. And by the way, I don't personally know any other expats, period. Don't know whether this helped you but please feel free to ask more questions. I'll do my best to answer.


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## TundraGreen

I moved all of the posts about marijuana to the other thread on that topic.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/mexico-expat-forum-expats-living-mexico/154668-about-legalization-cannabis.html


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## ehw23

Seems like guate was just trying to look out for his expat community...thank you guate! I do appreciate the motion to inform because i have been in and out of the área(even though this had happened a bit ago). 

I think we need to focos on the intent of the OP instead of criticizing 
Happens Too much


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## Longford

The OP posted incorrect information based on a lack of facts. Many people post comments without having sufficient information. Not just here, but on all forums. But the comments were fair game for criticism, IMO, and those who may have taken issue with the comments are focusing on the issue.


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