Security reinforced in Acapulco for the long weekend vacation

State security authorities implemented an operation in the port of Acapulco, as well as in the different tourist points and highways of Guerrero for the holiday bridge of November 20. Personnel from the State Police, Transit, and all the Special Units of the State Public Security Secretariat, in coordination with authorities from the three levels of government, participate in the security operation to provide attention to visitors who since Friday began arriving at the tourist areas of the state.

The points where security has been reinforced are Acapulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Taxco, and the different beaches of the Costa Chica and Costa Grande regions. Likewise, police personnel is patrolling the beaches, avenues, public squares, and highways as part of these surveillance actions; the elements are also issuing recommendations to people to respect the sanitary measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The authorities informed that the prevention and surveillance rounds are being maintained, as well as the installation of social proximity and citizen protection filters in popular neighborhoods and the periphery of each municipality. The measure was taken after violent incidents have occurred in the state, mainly in Acapulco, such as attacks on truck drivers, where an Ivory Coast citizen was injured.

Despite the bad news due to the violence that has been registered in the last hours in Acapulco, the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of Acapulco (AHETA), Alejandro Domínguez, said that this last long weekend of the year started positively with 60 percent of reservations and could increase to 80 percent because many tourists arrive without reservations.

The president of AHETA said that this long weekend and the previous long weekend have had a very good rebound, which helps to reactivate the economy. However, he said that the security issue has become "very delicate and complex". Alejandro Domínguez added that during the meetings they have had with the authorities they propose to have intelligence work because otherwise, a significant number of police officers throughout the port will be of no use.

The businessman explained that the fight is between organized crime and is not something against tourism, but obviously, there is a risk, as has already happened, that there may be an affectation or some damage to some person who is walking and these unfortunate events occur.

Tourists concerned about the situation in Acapulco

The president of the Association of Hotel and Restaurant Owners of Traditional Acapulco, Francisco Aguilar, said that tourists, before making reservations to plan their days of rest in this beach destination, ask about the "situation" in the port when they learn that there have been acts of violence. However, the hoteliers try to minimize the facts and tell tourists that they are attacks that occur between criminal groups, outside the tourist area and that they do not interfere with visitors.

"We try to minimize it so that tourists are not alarmed. Tourists when they book their rooms ask how Acapulco is because they saw on the news that there were violent incidents and we give them an answer, we try to smooth things over because the situation is much more difficult," he said.

He said that hoteliers in Acapulco Tradicional have been waiting for this November 20 long weekend and are hopeful for tourism. He commented that the reservation forecast is at 40 percent and some tourists are arriving without reservations, so hotel occupancy is expected to rise to 80 percent. The hotel leader said that two days of violence did hurt Acapulco's image and demanded that the authorities take a "hard hand" against crime.

"What we ask as tourists is that there is greater security if there is no security there is no tourism, that is something we have to record ourselves so we need the authorities to stop this nonsense of hugs and no bullets and that they get to work as they should, "he said.

The businessman warned that if the problems of violence let them grow more the situation will become more difficult and not only in Acapulco, as he recalled that some states were very "quiet", but now is very impressive the problem of insecurity in which they are immersed. He said that if the authorities do not do something about security, the Christmas vacations will be put at risk.

Insecurity persists on the Coastal Highway

The Costera Miguel Alemán, despite being the tourist area of Acapulco, in recent months this important avenue has become one of the most conflictive and unsafe areas of the port. Shootings, executions, burning of vehicles, robberies and assaults are just some of the acts of violence that have been registered in the last months of this year.

The coastal avenue is the most important avenue of this gambling destination where large hotel companies, bars, renowned nightclubs, and all kinds of businesses that are crowded by tourists and locals are located. However, nowadays, the situation of violence has taken a big turn turning it into one of the most conflictive zones that require special shielding by political corporations of the three orders of government.

In these first days of November alone, on the Miguel Aleman coast, three drivers of urban trucks on the Base-Caleta route have been murdered, a tourist from the Ivory Coast has been wounded by firearms, and a driver has also been injured in one of the attacks on urban drivers. In addition to these acts of violence that have caused an image of violence in the tourist zone, the coastal road has also been a road where there have been gun battles between alleged members of criminal groups and police elements such as the Mexican Army, Marines, and Ministerial.

The coastal road generates economic revenue and sources of employment for thousands of Acapulqueños, and the violence that has occurred in the last few days has put the main activity of the port at risk. These events have been enough for the government authorities to armor the Miguel Aleman coast with elements of the armed forces, the state, and the municipality.

Acapulco, the tourist jewel in the hands of drug traffickers

The port of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, has gone from being one of Mexico's main attractions to a battleground for organized crime. Last Thursday at around 10:00 p.m., a confrontation between the armed forces and hired killers took place near the La Cima neighborhood. A routine inspection routine caused the clash. According to reports, the security forces stopped a vehicle in which several subjects were traveling. The order of the armed forces was answered with bullets by the civilians, and a chase began.

The criminals managed to flee and kilometers ahead the van in which they were traveling was found. Inside were four lifeless bodies. After the events, several shootings and blockades by organized crime were reported in the port. The criminal acts in Acapulco do not reveal, for the mayor of the region, a situation of alert. Abelina Lopez rules out drug dealing and an alert situation in the tourist jewel.

In Acapulco, the blows of drug trafficking are not usually meditated the national newspaper Reforma has documented that the last murders of transporters in the area are because they refuse to pay the "piso" (floor rights) fee, which ranges from 100 to 1,000 pesos. Despite all this, the port of Guerrero remains a tourist emporium.

The Day of the Dead became a date marked in red in Guerrero, where several attacks on public transportation units were reported. In the municipality of Chilpancingo, authorities reported an arson attack on an Urvan van in the Timotlán neighborhood. According to witnesses, an armed group arrived at the site and forcibly removed the driver, and set fire to the unit. The driver's whereabouts are unknown at this time.

The second incident took place around 21:00 hours on November 1, in the Ahuiyuco-Centro neighborhood, where the driver of a vehicle was pulled out of the vehicle and beaten. According to the authorities, the motive for the incident is unknown.

Hell and paradise shake hands

In the tourist port of Acapulco, several incidents of violence have been reported in recent days. The most recent was the murder of photojournalist Alfredo Cardoso, who was shot five times. According to details, the reporter had been kidnapped and hours later abandoned on a street in a serious condition. Cardoso was taken from his house and a few hours later he was released near the building, wounded by a gunshot wound. The journalist died in hospital on Sunday.

Shortly before Cardoso's death, the mayor of the Pacific port, Abelina López Rodríguez, had asked not to be alarmed by the wave of violence in the region. "Tell me where is the alarm of violence, the alarm is set by the media," she accused. "If we don't take care of what we eat here, I don't know what we are going to eat. Why does Cancun remain silent? Because we have all understood that we have to eat something," he said.

Acapulco has suffered bloody events in recent weeks. Last Friday, an arson attack affected 20 semi-fixed stores in the Central de Abastos of Colonia Vacacional, in Acapulco. According to police reports, during the early hours of the morning, a group of armed men sprayed gasoline on the stalls and then set them on fire. The burned businesses were put out by municipal firefighters and members of the Navy. According to the state Civil Protection, there were no casualties, only material damage.

Another attack occurred on October 26, on Cuauhtémoc avenue, when an armed commando wounded a driver of a bus driver's van. A passenger was injured in the attack. Hours later, armed men shot at a driver and his assistant on the La Base-Caleta route. The aggression took place in broad daylight and in the vicinity of the Diana Cazadora, which is very popular with tourists.

Around 3:00 p.m. a shootout was reported in Playa Caleta between criminal groups disputing the area. Another of the murders in the jewel of Guerrero occurred on Tuesday when a driver of a public transport truck climbed onto the running board of the unit and shot him in front of the passengers and then fled.