mickey goes gang banging

While I was in Oregon, the Melaque message board lit up the fear monitor.

It started with what was called a mugging.  A young man with a screw driver relieved tourists of their possessions.  Armed robbery was what it was.  And it was unusual enough to catch people's attention.

Other posters added their own experiences.  Home burglaries.  Bike thefts.  And, of course, a rehashing of the deaths of two Canadians last year. 

The events and the moral indignation were real.  People genuinely sounded more frightened and concerned than they were before they heard the news.  Almost as shocked as Captain Renault that such things could occur.

That is what I find surprising.  This area of the Mexico coast is a town with the same joys and troubles as any other place where humans congregate.  The only difference is the way my neighbors make their livings.  Off of tourists.

And that seems to be where the misconception arises.  Because this is a tourist town, tourists come to believe it is Disneyland.  A place built solely for their amusement.  Where the cares of the world are banished.  Paradise in mouse ears.

This Disneyfication leads to a certain sense of entitlement.  And when real life intrudes, tourists feel as if the bargain has been breached.

That is not to say that this area does not have real issues revolving around crime.  Some that cause muggings and burglaries to fade in importance.

This past week, there have been a series of murders in Cihuatlán -- our "county" seat.  All bearing the marks of a narco turf war.  Either internecine or from new boys moving in.

There has been sporadic violence.  But the scale of deaths this week is different.  At least, twenty dead.  Including targeted hits on the police.  The situation has grown bad enough that local authorities have requested army assistance in restoring order.

Of course, tourists and expatriates seldom see that violence.  It is usually fought between people in the trade.

Unfortunately, tourist and expatriate dollars help feed the operations that lead to violence on our doorstep.

• Recreational drugs all come from one source.  The narcos.  Even though it is legal to use limited amounts of drugs in Mexico, it is morally impossible to distinguish their use and the horrifying results of last week's massacres.
• Almost all of the DVDs and CDs sold on the streets, in the tiaguis, and in some shops come from the same source.  The narcos.  According to The Economist, almost 25% of the narco's revenue come from the sale of pirated media.

People need to make their own moral choices.  And to know that there are consequences when those choices are made.

Melaque is not Disneyland.  But there is no reason why we should help to make it Detroit.