It's no secret that the drug violence in Mexico has gotten completely out of control.
Mexico's rampant drug violence has put the issue of safety front and center for would-be vacationers, and put the country's publicity-sensitive tourism promoters on the defensive. Tens of thousands of foreign visitors are expected to hit Mexican beaches such as Cancun for spring break, which lasts through April.
More than 6,000 people were slain in drug-related violence last year, with daytime shootouts, bodies dumped in piles and beheadings.
Those online gambling affiliates traveling to CAP Cancun (Casino Affiliate Programs) should be safe. There is no reason to believe that the throngs of folks who'll be staying at the Paradisus Riviera Cancun Resort are in any type of immediate danger. CAP members are no stranger to violence. Just last month, a series of assaults took place during the CAP London session. Raids by local officials in both Barcelona and the Bahamas have also occurred during the multi-day party function.
Mindful of Mexico's image troubles, promoters in the Cancun area are turning to a novel tactic, according to the LA Times: Don't mention what country it's in. Officials say they will downplay Mexico in advertising the beach zone. CAP officials, who are expecting a few hundred people to attend, will also downplay the violence in Mexico.
Just last month, a former army general was brutally murdered just outside Cancun after being appointed the region's drug czar. His arms and legs were broken from torture and riddled with bullets. That city's Mayor Gregorio Sanchez is being questioned by police investigating the murder, although he is not a suspect, Mexican media reported on Thursday. Cancun's former police chief was also being questioned. Two others were murdered as well.
A couple from Baltimore was thrilled to find a cheap Cancun package online until friends warned them about drug violence.
"When we told people we were going to Cancun they told us to watch out," said Ed Connolly, 22, whose mother told him she had heard stories of tourists being kidnapped in the resort.
Of course Baltimore is not exactly a Club Med paradise either. Watch HBO's The Wire.
The reality is that Cancun, like the rest of Mexico, is at war," said Cesar Muñoz, an editor at Novedades, a daily newspaper in Cancun that has closely followed the Tello case. "It's at war with the drug cartels."
In August, a pile of 11 decapitated bodies turned up in the neighboring state of Yucatan, in what was believed to be an organized-crime hit. A 12th headless body was found the same day in a separate spot.
Still, online gambling affiliate revelers should be safe provided the follow these precautions suggested by Gambling911.com:
1. Do not venture outside the resort.
2. Stay in large groups of 4 or more people.
3. Stay in large groups of 4 or more people.
4. Do not wear expensive jewelry and/or clothing and, if asked by locals where you are from, tell them Canada.
5. Do not wave to gun toting troops that will be awaiting you at the airport and along roadsides en route to Cancun.
Oh, and while this may have little to do with the brutal violence taking place in Mexico, we would also strongly urge CAP attendees not to drink the water and not to have ice cubes placed in drinks. Montezuma's revenge is a surefire way to ruin one's CAP experience.
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
