Confusion

I am a resident of Troncones. Rob’s assertion that “You don't hear about it [crime] because there are many folks including the authorities and the residents in Troncones who prefer to keep such things quiet and out of the public light,” seems to suggest that those of us who live here are enabling, possibly even encouraging, crime.

No, Chris, that is a gross misconception of yours. My comment was simply a statement of fact. It doesn't suggest anything other than what I actually said.

With his rant, Rob has painted Troncones with the same brush that others use to paint all of Mexico. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Guerrero is essentially a war zone in a lawless state." ("But, hey! Come for a visit, folks. I promote this area on my website!" I’m amazed that so many of us are willing to risk our lives to live in Guerrero. But I'll stay in my little village where I (apparently foolishly) feel safe.

You seem to have some bias influencing your perception of me and what I said. My comments about Guerrero's lawlessness have been consistent for longer than the 20 years that I've managed a Message Board and a website. My comments are consistent with what almost any Guerrero native will tell you. Folks from Mexico City and other places who work in local hotels may have a different POV. They, like many people who move and visit here, are often unaware of the reality on the ground here because it seems quite incongruent that a lawless state would have 3 popular tourist destinations or really any tourism at all. And my consistent reply to you and those people is that you live here not because you are ignorant, which you may or may not be, but because in spite of Guerrero's shortcomings it has some of the most wonderful people in the world. Before outsiders began moving to Zihuatanejo it hardly had a crime problem, and its one mostly inebriated cop had little official business to conduct. More recently during the previous municipal administration Zihuatanejo was left ENTIRELY WITHOUT A POLICE FORCE. Yet no looting or notable increase in criminality occurred as would have certainly happened in almost ANY city of comparable size in many other parts of Mexico as well as the USA. A rather astounding testament to the character of our native residents.

I'm privy to sensitive local events that I doubt you or most non-Mexican readers would be aware of because they don't make the news and no one will discuss them with foreigners or outsiders, but there are some that make the local news once in a while that underscore my comments. Sometimes things happen to remind us just how exposed and at the mercy of criminals we all are. A hold-up of an entire hotel including all its guests. Armed men obviously not police or legal security personnel driving around as if they could care less if you see them. A shoot-out nearby that lasts longer than it should take for police or military reinforcements to arrive.

And we are not immune to home invasions. Though you almost never hear about them because local folks don't trust reporting crimes to our police or ministerios públicos. They do indeed occur here from time to time and we must keep that reality in mind the same as we do the very real possibilities of being victims of kidnapping and extortion. These are facets of our local reality for every resident here, though not so much a problem for tourists.

I have no illusions about where I live and neither do my family or friends. We choose to make our lives here. Though there are days when it is difficult to find the courage, such as when an entire town is held hostage under threat of violence. You are certainly free to imagine there is some kind of dome shielding Troncones from events that have occurred all up and down this coast, but even native Troncones residents know better. But they are also eager to attract foreigners with money to spend and invest, so guess what version of our reality is portrayed for you and every other outsider.

My comment was limited to the years-long problem on the highway that passes Troncones that apparently the Troncones residents responding here either didn't know about or they didn't want to acknowledge, a problem that affects Zihuatanejo's reputation simply by virtue of our town's name being always used instead of Troncones to describe the location. But the problem remains in the municipio where Troncones is located not far from Troncones at all. I would think you would prefer to know about it and demand a solution to the problem instead of attacking me for being the messenger. But I could be wrong.

And I certainly don't think this is something that deserves to be hidden from potential visitors arriving by vehicles from the direction of Lázaro Cárdenas or Morelia. Do you?