Safety in Mexico

20 October 2021

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Mexico is quite safe, some residents in San Cristobal de las Casas are telling me. Others, in turn, especially Poles, are convinced that it's very dangerous to come here. Also according to the Polish government, in almost half of Mexico's states we are exposed to thefts and attacks by cartels or residents.

Neither one nor the other is completely right. During my trip in Mexico, I heard various stories of robberies and assaults. I even witnessed the searching for a girl's travel backpack on the first day arriving in Cancun. Today I heard a dramatic story about shooting a Polish cyclist. I think, mostly it's important to be aware and don't go alone in specific places in Mexico.

What about two man shot dead near San Cristobal de las Casas?

Although tragedy happened in 2018, people still talked about it in the city. The bodies of two cyclists were found at the bottom of a ravine going along the highway. They were both seasoned travelers. The body of polish man, Krzysztof Chmielewski was in terrible condition - his hands had been shot through and it was decapitated. The German, Holger Hagenbusch was shot in the head, the missile was not found. Of course, tourists are not informed about this, police said it was an accident. But how it can be believable if sister of Chmielewski can't bring his body back to Poland and she is hearing just that her brother died in mysterious circumstances?

The man came from Gryfino. He visited 51 countries. Unfortunately, his journey ended suddenly in Mexico, near San Cristobal de las Casas. The bodies were found after 15 days from the incident. I heard about the tragedy from the bartender by whom Chmielewski's sister lives at the moment. She tried unsuccessfully to recover body of her brother. The information was confirmed by two Mexicans, well informed and living in the city.

Local lawyer Juanjo Gutiérrez Brínguez decided to investigate it privately. As I found out from the people in town, he had met Krzysztof and his companion a few days earlier. It had seemed strange to him that experienced cyclists would simply make a mistake and die losing control of their vehicles, as the police initially claimed. Gutiérrez claims to have found an eyewitness who confirmed how cyclists' bodies were thrown into the ravine at 11:30 on April 22. After publication of the article about the tragedy and the testimony of some witness, many people came to the editorial office to say that they had also information on this subject. Among them, a resident of San Cristobal who saw three men throwing bodies down the ravine.

What else do tourists have to watch out for?

- There are cases where men who come to visit local women. They arrange meetings with them, invite them to dance, it happens that the girl will go home with them - an American tourist living in 13 Cielos Hostel answers me. Then sometimes they come back to the hostel badly beaten up by the brother or someone from the girl's family, with a black eye, scratched... I have seen three such cases since January. Always the same. And this danced with the wrong girl, and that took her home.

Are there cartels behind these or people from the mafia?

- I don't think so. Ordinary residents, deduced from what I heard from these beaten men.

Is Mexico safe?