BanderasNews
Puerto Vallarta Weather Report
Welcome to Puerto Vallarta's liveliest website!
Contact UsSearch
Why Vallarta?Vallarta WeddingsRestaurantsWeatherPhoto GalleriesToday's EventsMaps
 NEWS/HOME
 EDITORIALS
 AT ISSUE
 OPINIONS
 ENVIRONMENTAL
 LETTERS
 WRITERS' RESOURCES
 ENTERTAINMENT
 VALLARTA LIVING
 PV REAL ESTATE
 TRAVEL / OUTDOORS
 HEALTH / BEAUTY
 SPORTS
 DAZED & CONFUSED
 PHOTOGRAPHY
 CLASSIFIEDS
 READERS CORNER
 BANDERAS NEWS TEAM
Sign up NOW!

Free Newsletter!

Puerto Vallarta News NetworkEditorials | Opinions | May 2009 

"Women Walk the Streets at Night Without Fear..."
email this pageprint this pageemail usA Letter to the Editor from David Yett


Many thanks for this article. (Mexico: One Journalist’s View) I have also retired to Mexico, but unlike the other people who responded to this article, I do not live in a gringo enclave like San Miguel or Lake Chapala (or even Puerto Vallarta.) I live in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, in a completely Mexican neighborhood (the only gated community here is the jail!)

I can second Ellerbee's comments entirely, with one small exception: I have found that the honesty and personal integrity of many Mexicans is not up to US standards, so one has to be careful when contracting for services and some goods.

For example, a gringo friend of ours was offered an almost certainly stolen car at a used car lot in Morelia yesterday. The papers? "Well there are at my house - wait a while and I'll have my wife bring them." "There are problems with the papers, buy the car and we'll make everything OK for you." Perhaps this is because with the very high rural indigenous population around here, people are not as cautious and business-savvy as more highly educated mestizos might be.

But in our neighborhood, women and girls walk the streets at night without fear, and petty crime, except for the aforementioned frauds, is practically nonexistent. Most of the people are friendly and open. Medical care is excellent and inexpensive (my doctor usually spends over an hour for me in an office visit - the cost, about $15 US!)

Yes, there are occasional shootings in the area, but the only innocent bystander injured here in the last few years was a Mexican tourist accidentally shot by the Federal Judicial Police during a shootout with some alleged "narcos" - and that was over two years ago.
- David Yett

dyett(at)aol.com



In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and educational purposes • m3 © 2009 BanderasNews ® all rights reserved • carpe aestus