MEXICO/FILE: Expatriate community in a small Mexican lakeside town thrives despite wave of increasing violence stemming from Mexico's drug war

Record ID: 305322

  • Title: MEXICO/FILE: Expatriate community in a small Mexican lakeside town thrives despite wave of increasing violence stemming from Mexico's drug war
  • Date: 14th June 2012
  • Summary: AJIJIC, JALISCO, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HOME WHERE AMERICAN DAVID CHRISTOPHER KAHR WAS MURDERED IN NOVEMBER BODY BAG AT HOME WHERE AMERICAN DAVID CHRISTOPHER KAHR WAS MURDERED IN NOVEMBER EXPATRIATE RESIDENTS OF AJIJIC STANDING OUTSIDE CRIME SCENE CHAPALA, JALISCO, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) PEOPLE, SOME HOLDING CANADIAN, MEXICAN AND AMERICAN FLAGS, AT A TOWN HALL MEETING HELD IN MAY BETWEEN LOCAL RESIDENTS AND SECURITY OFFICIALS EXPATRIATE RESIDENT OF LAKE CHAPALA AREA SPEAKING AT TOWN HALL MEETING FOREIGN WOMEN LISTENING DURING TOWN HALL MEETING CAPTAIN CONTRERAS AT TOWN HALL MEETING MEXICAN MAN SPEAKING AT TOWN HALL MEETING POLICE STANDING NEAR CRIME SCENE IN WHICH MAN WAS FOUND DISMEMBERED GUADALAJARA, JALISCO, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) VAN BELONGING TO FORENSIC INVESTIGATORS HUMAN REMAINS IN PLASTIC BAGS BEING REMOVED FROM VAN AFTER THE MURDER OF 18 PEOPLE ON THE HIGHWAY TO CHAPALA CHAPALA, JALISCO, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING FOR AN END TO THE VIOLENCE IN CHAPALA PEOPLE HOLDING A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN CHAPALA
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: People,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVAB41LKDKPVWR1CAZCRL17LH3RC
  • Story Text: An expatriate retirement community in Mexico is thriving despite the drug violence that has plagued the state of Jalisco in recent months.
    Ajijic sits on the north shore of Lake Chapala, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) southeast of the city of Guadalajara.
    The town, with a population of approximately 15,000, is home to an estimated 3-5,000 mainly retired expatriates - most of them Americans and Canadians - attracted by its temperate climate, sweeping lake views and nearby mountains.
    But a recent wave of violence has shaken the area as the Zetas criminal organization challenge other gangs in western Mexico.
    Many members of the expatriate community meet regularly at the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) for literary discussions, film screenings and board games.
    Howard Feldstein, the President of the LCS, said that Ajijic was no more dangerous than any major American or Canadian metropolitan areas.
    "Generally, we all feel safe here. The recent experience here has shaken the community in many ways. Primarily, I think, the Mexican community, because they were the real targets of that tragedy. It's caused all of us some concern, but it's no more dangerous here than it is in any city in the United States or Canada," he said.
    Betty Robinson, an American originally from Sarasota, Florida who has lived in retirement in Ajijic for the last five years, said that she has also sensed more fear from locals than from expatriates.
    "They feel as if the Mexican population is being threatened and not the gringos. From what I see I think that that is true, and they have a right to be a little afraid. But I see it getting better. For awhile there wouldn't be anybody down here, and in some of the restaurants, particularly at night, no. I came down here a couple weeks ago and the park was jammed and it was about 5 o'clock on a Saturday and I was happy to see that the Mexicans themselves were returning and weren't quite as afraid," she said.
    But some locals say that their businesses have been affected by the climate of insecurity.
    "Little by little we were having more clients, mostly foreigners, many of whom live in this area. We were growing because of our clientele, but since the violence began in this area, from one day to the next, everything went down," said restauranteur Maria Graciela hernandez Chavez.
    Ajijic's parish priest, Father Alfredo Areola Aguayo, said fear remained in the Mexican community.
    "There is a bit of fear. I only know of one case of someone leaving. The rest of us have stayed. Nothing has happened to them. Foreigners have no problem. But they do see the difficult environment, that has caused panic, fear, which has even reached the level of being a sickness. A pathological fear," he said.
    In November, a 69-year old retired American, Stephen Christopher Kahr, was murdered in his Ajijic home in what authorities say was a botched robbery attempt.
    In May, a foreign national was briefly kidnapped and released by suspected drug cartel members in Ajijic, according to a security update from the US embassy in Mexico City.
    The same month, police found the decapitated and dismembered bodies of 18 people in the nearby town of Ixlahuacan de los Membrillos.
    The discovery of the 18 bodies prompted a town hall meeting attended by Chapala natives, expatriates and local law enforcement officials.
    New citizen security initiatives have been launched to help turn back the tide of crime.
    In an interview with Reuters, police Captain Reynol Contreras said that he was happy with the support from the expatriate community.
    "Along with the American Legion and the Lake Chapala Society, we created a citizen's security initiative, which I am a part of. The heads of that initiative are foreigners, and I have joined them. We've received support and gear. But above all, we've received the moral support we need at times like these," he said.
    Many Mexicans, however, remain concerned. In May, hundreds of local residents marched through the town to call for peace and held a candlelight vigil to pray for the victims of the violence.
    Nationally drug violence has killed about 55,000 people since President Felipe Calderon launched an army-led crackdown on drug cartels and organize crime after taking office five years ago.
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