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First Hand Account of Slaughter Near Zihuatanejo - Caution - Graphic!


pedro malo

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My wife recently returned from the 1 year anniversary "rezos" of her father's death held at their "rancho". The family lives about 35 miles inland from Zihuatanejo in mountain communities that have been controlled and occupied by the Templarios for years now.

On the last night of the rezos, "strangers" appeared that no one recognized. They "crashed" the rezos, helping themselves to the food and drink offered and my wife served them nervously. The following morning, the solemnity of the rezos was interupted by the sound of automatic gun fire and grenade blasts that lasted the entire day. Apparently these "strangers" attacked the controlling Templarios and after the dust settled, at least 20 bodies of dead narcos lay strewn around the community, in the woods and along the river bank. Even one who was torched inside a pickup truck on my wife's mother's property. The community is terrified and are afraid to collect the dead for fear of enraging the remaining Templarios and /or the new comers. The bodies lay for over a week, rotting in the sun and being eaten by the pigs. My wife said it is horrible, breathing the air induces vomiting! The Marines showed up a few days ago and engaged the "new comers" and killed about 4 of them but the bodies of narco killed by narco remain rotting on the ground!

The people are terrified and do not know what to do. No one is sure who the "new comers" are. No one know if they are other Templarios taking over or another narco family altogether, or are afraid to say at least.

I've forbidden my wife to return there until this thing is over. It is difficult for her since her whole life is tied to this area. She has her aging mother that WON'T LEAVE, her property, cattle and most of her siblings. All I need is for one of them to realize she's married to a gringo. I'm terrified by this thought and this whole ordeal has me questioning what I'm doing in this country.

I applaud the government's recent sanctioning and material support of these rural communities rising up against these narcos. Unless the people join forces with the government, I do not see and end to this tragedy. It does not make sense that good people have not been allowed arms to protect themselves, since the criminals that brutalize always have access to arms regardless of the law. Allowing the public to arm themselves is a positive trend in my opinion. History has shown that bad things only change in Mexico with the physical support of El Pueblo Mexicano. God Bless and protect them!

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When I was in my 30's fantasized about sailing to Zihuatanejo. Subscribed to all of the sailing rags - and it simply looked like a magical place with a great harbor. I don't recall any talk or whispers of violence - there or close by. Then came Ixtapa and club med- and again - no talk or whispers of violence. My how things have changed - and how terrible thing are now.

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Zihua is still a magical place Mad Max. Some of the most beautiful bays and beaches on the Pacific coast.

The intense violence is recent, started around 2006 and has just been escalating but it's surprising how much the tourist industry is able to isolate from it. Thank goodness tourism has not been targeted so most visitors don't see or hear about what's going on around them still and if you stick to the tourist areas, you just won't see it unless you read the local papers. There was a spike a couple years ago when heads and bodies were left at bus station and near down town which brought it into eyes view of tourism that did result in a drop in tourism that Zihua hasn't completely recovered from.

I have friends who have been traveling to Zihua yearly for decades who love the place and will continue to travel there. They've had to modify their behavior some and don't stay out on streets way into the morning hours anymore and feel relatively safe. But on the back streets and surrounding communities and small towns, hamlets where tourist usually don't go, it's another story. Very dangerous especially for the local populations and businesses that are subject to getting caught in the crossfire, extortion and kidnappings. It's still all around us here at Lakeside too, just not as visible for the moment. A few months ago there was a string of amateur burglaries in our colonia in Joco. A few weeks later, 2 young brothers were found beheaded. A warning from the narco powers that be that this is their territory and that competition will not be tolerated. You'd be hard pressed to find anywhere in Mexico where this is not the case today. If you know of one, let me know about it.

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We just returned to Ajijic after a 45 day car trip around Mexico. 6541 km. We had a wonderful time and didn't spend much time in tourist destinations. We went to Tula, Jalapa, Veracruz, Merida, Campeche, Chetchumal, Valladolid, Palenque, Oaxaca, Morelia and lots of little places in between and we had no trouble whatsoever. We were stopped several times by police and army blockades who asked us where we were from and where we were going. They often inquired if we had had any problems along the way. We were tempted to complain about the atrocious lack of signs on the highways but decided that was not the place :)

Mexico is a beautiful and wonderful country. I feel honoured to live here. Not that there are not problems with violence and crime but you will find that everywhere. I feel so sorry for your wife's family, Pedro Malo. That must be so terrible for the whole community.

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My wife recently returned from the 1 year anniversary "rezos" of her father's death held at their "rancho". The family lives about 35 miles inland from Zihuatanejo in mountain communities that have been controlled and occupied by the Templarios for years now.

On the last night of the rezos, "strangers" appeared that no one recognized. They "crashed" the rezos, helping themselves to the food and drink offered and my wife served them nervously. The following morning, the solemnity of the rezos was interupted by the sound of automatic gun fire and grenade blasts that lasted the entire day. Apparently these "strangers" attacked the controlling Templarios and after the dust settled, at least 20 bodies of dead narcos lay strewn around the community, in the woods and along the river bank. Even one who was torched inside a pickup truck on my wife's mother's property. The community is terrified and are afraid to collect the dead for fear of enraging the remaining Templarios and /or the new comers. The bodies lay for over a week, rotting in the sun and being eaten by the pigs. My wife said it is horrible, breathing the air induces vomiting! The Marines showed up a few days ago and engaged the "new comers" and killed about 4 of them but the bodies of narco killed by narco remain rotting on the ground!

The people are terrified and do not know what to do. No one is sure who the "new comers" are. No one know if they are other Templarios taking over or another narco family altogether, or are afraid to say at least.

I've forbidden my wife to return there until this thing is over. It is difficult for her since her whole life is tied to this area. She has her aging mother that WON'T LEAVE, her property, cattle and most of her siblings. All I need is for one of them to realize she's married to a gringo. I'm terrified by this thought and this whole ordeal has me questioning what I'm doing in this country.

I applaud the government's recent sanctioning and material support of these rural communities rising up against these narcos. Unless the people join forces with the government, I do not see and end to this tragedy. It does not make sense that good people have not been allowed arms to protect themselves, since the criminals that brutalize always have access to arms regardless of the law. Allowing the public to arm themselves is a positive trend in my opinion. History has shown that bad things only change in Mexico with the physical support of El Pueblo Mexicano. God Bless and protect them!

PS The military finally got things cleaned up. All is quiet for the moment.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just made the drive from Ajijic to Zihuatanejo. We saw some military, lots of police and construction. At least two of the toll booths, it appeared to be civilians collecting the tolls, but lower than posted. Sounds like Pedro is right, all quiet for the moment.

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