Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Guns!!!

Guns!!! (reply)

Talley Ho — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:56:21 +0000

You mean they aren't 12???

Guns!!! (reply)

NJS — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:23:39 +0000

Guns don't bother me but the guys carrying them look like they are about 12 years old. LOL

perception (reply)

Aunt Chelada — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 13:28:05 +0000

They weren't too well received in Tabasco the other day. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the rest of the country.

perception (reply)

ZihuaRob — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:26:26 +0000

I hope this is an improvement and wish them good luck. The first time I saw heavily armed Mexican police I was scared ****less. Now I am comfortable with it.

Must be a perception thing. I grew up watching U.S. police crack heads over civil rights and protesting a war, among other things. Of course when I first came to Zihuatanejo the Guerra Sucia was in full swing and the government was disappearing people and getting away with murder.

Everyone except the bad guys wishes success to the Guardia Nacional.

Guns!!! (reply)

wisconsinjuan — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:15:29 +0000

I hope this is an improvement and wish them good luck. The first time I saw heavily armed Mexican police I was scared ****less. Now I am comfortable with it.

Guns!!! (reply)

Talley Ho — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:22:02 +0000

Our first trip to Mexico in 1977 exposed me to lots of guns. I already hunted, but this was different.

Over time I have learned to look to see what they have, smile, and feel "protected."

My current favorite is the hand held grenade launcher! Check out the You Tube videos. They are amazing! I want to have my picture taken next to one of the guys who carries one, and am sure that next time we have a camera and see one of them walking around, he'll smile with me. How cool is that???

Yes, I expect SO much flack about this!!! Too bad.

A-ten-shun! Mexico gets a new police force (reply)

Casa Juan — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:17:13 +0000

Even an incremental improvement from the status quo would be great! Given the current grim reality of law enforcement in Mexico its hard but important to be hopeful.

A-ten-shun! Mexico gets a new police force (reply)

B&S — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 22:38:18 +0000

We are wondering if we saw a contingent of these new recruits here in Zihua a few days ago. We had just sat down for dinner at the almost empty Bandido’s when they began pushing two rows of tables together. Pretty soon fit and clean cut young men in civilian clothes began wondering in. In total about 40 of them. And all were wearing shoulder harnesses with various models of fully visible firearms. Interesting dinner.

A-ten-shun! Mexico gets a new police force

zulualpha — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 19:18:15 +0000

Sunday saw the official launch of Mexico´s newest police force, the Guardia Nacional (GN). The new force, 70,000 strong, will eventually replace the Policia Federal, and is being dispatched to 150 regions of the country. It is expected to double in size and territorial reach by 2023. (Elements of the Guardia Nacional have already been dispatched to Mexico´s borders, in an effort to contain migrant crossings.)

Police corruption is seen as a major obstacle to effective law enforcement in Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manual Lopez Obredor, addressing 10,000 GN graduates Sunday, said that is about to change. "I believe in you, and I know you are not going to defraud the people of Mexico, because you come from the people, you belong to the people of this great country," he said.

The GN is commanded by a retiring armed forces general, despite calls from political and civic organizations for the force to operate under civilian control.
(press reports)