Originally Posted by
Nystateofmind51
replys to my thread lack merit. You weren't there, you didn't experience this first hand, you didn't hear what the locals told me about the police or the hotel employees or other tourists about shakedowns that occur on a regular basis to extort money from tourists, you didn't bother to ask me intelligent questions about nightlife in PV (the clubs start gearing up at midnight for the tourists and locals and close at 4 a.m.), you have no idea how many "more interesting" countries I have seen thoroughout the world, so it really is absurd to read most of your comments that anyone with an iota of intelligence would ask more questions than trying to make me responsible for the actions of a corrupt police force!
Why can't you just accept the fact that this type of harrasment and shakedown and extortion (yes they took money from my friend but not from me as I was far too concentrated on every action they were doing with me), and accept the fact that there are countless reports on the internet and off the internet about similar situations that never should have happened. I didn't bother to read about this before leaving, as it never occured to me that this could happen.
American and Canadian Tourists in PV should be revered, especially if we are behaving responsibly. Without tourists, PV will slide to below nothing.......guess you are forgetting that fact. The quickest way to lose them is by the actions they decided to take towards me and my friend last week....enough said, I hope it NEVER happens to any of you, I mean that sincerely.......
I don't think any of us disagree that this type of thing happens in Mexico. We're all too well aware of it and, in some cases, have had this or worse happen to us or our family/friends. And in other cases we have had excellent interactions with Mexican law enforcement.
In your particular case your mere presence on the street was unfortunately enough "probable cause" for the police to perform a stop, identify and search. Doesn't matter if this was a "tourist zone" or if the clubs were partying at that hour. In fact if I were a corrupt Mexican police officer looking for extra income this would be prime hunting time for inebriated tourists so I could pick up some fine money. Sad state of affairs but such is life in Mexico and Mexicans have to deal with this reality each and every day. I am thankful I live in a country where I am not afraid to call the police when I need help - unfortunately my Mexican in-laws cannot say the same thing.
Here's the deal with Mexican police. In Mexico, the federal, state and local government officials will readily admit that their police are a failure. Over the past few years, mostly starting with President Fox's administration, they have gotten rid of hundreds if not thousands of corrupt and violent officers. Regretfully the purge hasn't done much to make the police force any better because the policies and procedures that are ingrained in the culture are still there.
And incidentally why should
Norteamericanos be treated any differently than Mexicans or visitors from other countries? Because of our all-mighty tourist dollar? This type of ego-centric thinking does nothing but reinforce the gringo stereotype in Mexico. Please don't contribute to it.