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Wardn Message - Duck and Cover


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United States Consulate General Guadalajara

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO

AS MANY AMERICAN CITIZENS AS POSSIBLE

SUBJECT: WARDEN MESSAGE

Date: June 29, 2010

BEGIN TEXT.

American citizens should be aware of the fact that the security environment within Guadalajara’s consular district continues to deteriorate.

Mexican officials recently commented on the security situation in Guadalajara saying that police are unable to effectively combat organized crime and drug cartel violence could affect innocent civilians.

Drug cartel violence continues to be on the rise within the greater Guadalajara Metropolitan area. On June 24th there was a confrontation between police and cartel fighters on the road between Guadalajara and the nearby tourist destination of Mazamitla. Multiple gun battles between rival drug cartels and police involving automatic assault rifles, armored vehicles, and grenades have been reported closer and closer to Guadalajara to include the recent heavy weapons fights in Tepic, Nayarit where the Governor recently ordered the early closure of public schools due to the cartel violence.

In light of the deteriorating security situation:

· U.S. citizens should make every attempt to travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly the toll ("cuota") roads, which generally are more secure.

· Be aware of your surroundings. If any suspicious or violent activity is observed, move away from the threat and report specific information immediately to local police.

· Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene.

· Drive Defensively - In addition to the threat from organized criminals, road rage can also lead to a deadly incident. Remember to drive defensively and avoid provoking other drivers regardless of any erratic driving near your vehicle. Keep your distance and be a courteous driver to avoid any potential for conflict.

· Immediately report any violence or incident involving the use of deadly weapons to the local police. Please continue to monitor the regularly updated State Department travel warnings for Mexico using the following link: http://travel.state.gov/

For the latest security information, U.S. citizens living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, Travel Warnings, and health-information resources can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers in other areas by calling a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

The U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara is located at 175 Progreso Street; Col. Americana, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara telephone number is 011 52 33 3268 2100; the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara fax number is 011 52 33 3825 1951. For after-hours emergencies, please call 011 52 33 3268 2145.

END OF TEXT.

______________________

U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara

175 Progreso Street; Col. Americana

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

011 52 33 3268 2100

http://guadalajara.usconsulate.gov/

The Consulate office hours are Monday through Friday

from 08:00 a.m. to 04:30 p.m. (except from Mexican and U.S. holidays).

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I am Canadian and will still say the American government looks after American's better than the Canadian government looks after Canadians when in a foreign country. And there is no doubt the US government has many people working undercover in Mexico so better informed.

The Canadian public has not been so pleased by its' government when Canadians have been in trouble in foreign countries recently. In the past year about 3 high profile cases come to mind.

One of them Maher Arar who was awarded $10,000,000 and another is in Guantanamo. Then there was the woman of African decent from Toronto last name Mahamud who had to prove her DNA to leave Kenya which took months even though she is Canadian and with no help from the canadian government. This case will end up being a million dollar settlement as well. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/680809

There are other cases in past year.

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This is news to me. The Canadian government got their woman prisoner out of a Mexican prison a couple years before the American was released. (The had to do with something that happened in PV, you may recall. When we children were kidnapped by their foreign father the US government wouldn't lift a finger to help me get them back. I've never seen the US care a hoot about its citizens in foreign countries.

I am Canadian and will still say the American government looks after American's better than the Canadian government looks after Canadians when in a foreign country. And there is no doubt the US government has many people working undercover in Mexico so better informed.

The Canadian public has not been so pleased by its' government when Canadians have been in trouble in foreign countries recently. In the past year about 3 high profile cases come to mind.

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In light of the deteriorating security situation:

· U.S. citizens should make every attempt to travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly the toll ("cuota") roads, which generally are more secure.

· Be aware of your surroundings. If any suspicious or violent activity is observed, move away from the threat and report specific information immediately to local police.

· Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene.

· Drive Defensively - In addition to the threat from organized criminals, road rage can also lead to a deadly incident. Remember to drive defensively and avoid provoking other drivers regardless of any erratic driving near your vehicle. Keep your distance and be a courteous driver to avoid any potential for conflict.

· Immediately report any violence or incident involving the use of deadly weapons to the local police. Please continue to monitor the regularly updated State Department travel warnings for Mexico using the following link: http://travel.state.gov/

Maybe I'm missing the point or just naive, but isn't this good advice no matter WHERE you are? I would act this way if I were in any country, including the US OR Canada.

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Maybe I'm missing the point or just naive, but isn't this good advice no matter WHERE you are? I would act this way if I were in any country, including the US OR Canada.

"Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene".

I think you missed the point on this particular part of the warning if you are implying incidents like this occur frequently enough in the US or Canada to require warnings.

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"Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene".

I think you missed the point on this particular part of the warning if you are implying incidents like this occur frequently enough in the US or Canada to require warnings.

Maybe. But having lived in NY, Phoenix and Philadelphia (and being mugged once in NYC), I think my naivete is long behind me. If I hear gunshots anyplace (and yes, that HAS happened in the US), I certainly 'duck and cover' then dial 911.

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"Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene".

I think you missed the point on this particular part of the warning if you are implying incidents like this occur frequently enough in the US or Canada to require warnings.

Maybe. But having lived in NY, Phoenix and Philadelphia (and being mugged once in NYC), I think my naivete is long behind me. If I hear gunshots anyplace (and yes, that HAS happened in the US), I certainly 'duck and cover' then dial 911.

And it certainly doesn't stop me from traveling - though there ARE places that I would avoid. Mexico isn't one of them. Frankly, I'm sure that the statistics for auto deaths in Mexico far exceed the gunshot deaths.

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"Take cover and/or evasive action if you hear or see weapons being fired at anytime. Immediately get down on the ground behind solid cover or drive away quickly if you are in your vehicle. Do not attempt moving closer to the action to see what is happening. Once you can safely move away from the incident, proceed as quickly as possible with evasive action to remove yourself from the scene".

I think you missed the point on this particular part of the warning if you are implying incidents like this occur frequently enough in the US or Canada to require warnings.

IMHO, the warning is required in places that DON'T normally have such incidents, which until recently included Guadalajara. In places where such incidents are common no one needs a warning, they already know.

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Where I'm from...Dallas, TX.....an amazing number of people are carrying guns and a lot of those people have a screw loose somewhere. Before I left, road rage was so common that every commuter knew evasive manuvers on the freeway in case some nutcase didn't like someone else's driving.

To me, random acts of violence by people with mental issues are MUCH more frightening than violence between warring groups that I'm not likely to be in the middle of. Either one will kill you......granted.......precautions need to be taken......the latter threat is much easier to avoid.

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It is nice to be able to defend yourself instead of having some nanny decide you can't although they have guns.

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Maybe. But having lived in NY, Phoenix and Philadelphia (and being mugged once in NYC), I think my naivete is long behind me. If I hear gunshots anyplace (and yes, that HAS happened in the US), I certainly 'duck and cover' then dial 911.

And it certainly doesn't stop me from traveling - though there ARE places that I would avoid. Mexico isn't one of them. Frankly, I'm sure that the statistics for auto deaths in Mexico far exceed the gunshot deaths.

Since there is only a slight risk of a particular individual---whether ex-pat gringo or uninvolved Mexicano--- becoming a victim of narco-violence, out of sight, out of mind is probably an acceptable attitude for coping with the situation that exists in many parts of the country. That is certainly what people who live in the Tamaulipas frontera do in going about their daily routine. But people who reside in Mexico or who are traveling in an affected area should be reasonably well informed and aware of what narco-violence involves and what is actually happening where they live or will be travelling.

To me it doesn't indicate much awareness or appreciation about what is actually happening and in fact demonstrates a near complete absence of awareness, to suggest Mexican narco-violence is even remotely similar in any real way to random violence that occurs in the U.S. I have no idea what would lead someone to believe that unless they wall themselves off from available information or have an "if I didn't see it, it didn't happen" approach to life.

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