Updated July 1 2008

Editorial Page

On this page we invite guest editorials and letters to the editor. Go to the Home Page and click on “Archives,” then on “Editorials,” for past discussions of a range of interesting subjects.

Tourism under Siege

For whatever political reason besides taking attention off domestic issues in an election year, it is United States policy at the present time to discourage tourism and promote disquiet along the border. Last week, a group who had made a reservation with us canceled and asked for their deposit back because, on calling the Border Patrol and asking about conditions at Palomas and other border towns, they were told they should under no circumstances go into Mexico. It was too dangerous, the officer said. A month earlier, a friend witnessed an officer stop a bus of tourists about to cross at Palomas, board it, take the mike, and tell the people on board, “None of you should be going to Mexico; it is too dangerous.”

Yes, there have been shootings in Palomas, and it has even reached Casas Grandes. There is violence everywhere; the year before last, we’re told, there were more shootings in Tucson than in Ciudad Juárez, a city three times larger, but the media does not report such comparisons. What is important to note is that all of the shootings on the border are targeted shootings, involving individuals actively involved in narcotics trafficking. Not a single tourist has ever been affected. I have been closely associated with the Casas Grandes area for more than 30 years, and had there been a single instance of violence against a visitor in all that time, I would have heard about it. People would have said, “Spencer, such and such happened!” We have lived in peacefully in Casas Grandes for four years, Many here don’t lock their doors at night.

Nonetheless, tourism to Mexico is under siege. I belong to the Lions Club in Casas Grandes, where we’ve discussed this at length.  The consensus is that, especially in these times of stress, tourism needs a helping hand. What if anything might be done? One answer is very clear. Mexico is shooting itself in the foot with its difficult border requirements. Let me explain.

The entire State of Sonora, to the west, is a free zone for visitors. No paper work is required for Americans traveling anywhere in the state. By contrast, Chihuahua requires a tourist permit and a vehicle permit to travel more than a limited number of miles into the interior. Visitors crossing at Palomas are waved through, the Mexican border officer perhaps assuming they are visiting locally. No one asks how far into Mexico they are going. Although visitors may be aware that they have to get a car permit, since they were waved through, they think it must not be yet. Perhaps farther on. Big mistake! At the check point south of Janos, they will be asked for their papers. If they don’t have them, they’ll be sent back 85 miles to the border. We know personally at least a dozen people who have been caught in this; the total numbers must be vastly greater. And what about visitors to Ascensión or Janos who would like to extend their visit to Casas Grandes? No, they can’t do that; they have to go back to the border.

Leaving Mexico can be even worse. No Mexican officer asks how far you traveled into Mexico, assuming perhaps that you were only traveling locally. No one tells you that you must cancel your car permit in the Customs office and have the officer scrape off the sticker from your windshield, and that then you must find the Immigration office and cancel your visitor’s visa. This is stated in Spanish in fine print, and you are supposed to know it; ignorance of the law is no excuse!

Should you cross the border without canceling both permits, tired and looking forward to getting home, you’ll find on your next visit to Mexico that fines have accumulated on a daily basis from the expiration of your visa. As a special consideration after some extended negotiation, the amount of the fine might be reduced to some manageable amount in the neighborhood of $200 USD.

Several friends have run afoul of the vehicle permit. One, who has a home here, made a brief trip to the States within the period of the permit, intending to return. He met with an accident and had to junk the car. He was not allowed to enter Mexico with another car, however, even though he had saved the sticker from his windshield and had the bill of sale from the junk yard. How was the officer to know that our friend had not sold his old car in Mexico? He would have to apply to Mexico City, and the waiting period would be four to five months. In this case, it took a personal trip to the border by the mayor of Casas Grandes to get him home again. Another friend living here totaled her car. Unable to drive it to the border to cancel her permit, she unfortunately junked it without thinking of the Byzantine maze of implications. She is still without a car.

There are many more problems than these. A group of doctors wanting to donate their time and services helping people in the Sierras were not allowed to enter with their instruments and medicines. A local service club wanting to help local people suffering from the effects of our 16-year drought has not been allowed to bring in clean, ironed clothing gathered by cooperating service clubs in New Mexico. A photographer who brought photographs of Mata Ortiz to exhibit at the Museum here at Paquimé not only met with resistance at the border. She was not allowed to donate the photographs to the Museum, but was told she had to return them to the border by a certain date—physically accompanied by someone from the Museum!

Recently visitors remarked of friends who used to visit Chihuahua regularly but who no longer do, not because they question the safety, but because they have tired of the border hassle.

Is there no solution? Yes, there is. Visitors can travel as far as the Janos checkpoint with no more than Mexican insurance—no paperwork from either customs or immigration. The only restriction is a short list of items such as arms and ammunition that mustn’t be brought into the country. The Janos checkpoint has been moved twice in the years I have been coming to Mexico. It is now 20 miles before Nuevo Casas Grandes. Why not simply move it to the other side of Nuevo Casas Grandes? Then Nuevo Casas Grandes, the old pueblo of Casas Grandes, the archaeological ruins of Paquimé, the village of Mata Ortiz, and other points of tourist interest would fall within the free-travel zone.

This solution has been talked about for years, but there has been no leadership to make it happen. Now several members of the local Lions Club—of which Emi and I are members—acting independently so as to insulate the Club out of any political issues that might arise, have taken it on themselves to initiate an effort to move the checkpoint. Their plan is to privately contact individual members in all the service clubs and major business and professional groups in the area. These would prevail upon their respective groups to unite in common cause and appeal as one body to the town councils in the area, requesting that these in turn jointly petition the state congress in Chihuahua City to make a formal request to the federal government to authorize moving the checkpoint.

Should this happen, it would enormously boost the regional economy through increased tourism. This in turn would help ease immigration pressure on the border. It would also facilitate charitable programs and promote cultural exchange and understanding. Imagine how it will help the economy of Mata Ortiz for people to be able to freely drive back and forth from the United States with few or no concerns about Mexican bureaucratic compliance.

Since Emi and I are so closely in touch with visitors, we will surely be called upon to help pinpoint the kinds of bureaucratic friction that would disappear if Casas Grandes were brought within an enlarged free-travel zone. So here at last is the point of this long editorial: we are soliciting examples the kinds of problems people encounter when traveling here. Have you had a discouraging experience or do you know of someone who has? Do you know of statistics or do you have ideas that might be helpful to the cause? Please let us know of them (we’ll preserve your anonymity if you wish). Please do phone, write, or email us. Our contact information is:

Spencer and Emalie MacCallum

Postal address: 713 W. Spruce #48, Deming, NM 88030

USA phone (rings in México): 915-261-0502

Residence: Avenida Victoria #420 y Revolución,

        Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico 31850

Local phone in Mexico 636-692-4402

sm@look.net

emaliecaley@hotmail.com

<<<<<< O >>>>>>