• Vespair@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    4 months ago

    I’ve been to Mexico like 6 times.

    The first 5 times were all excellent trips, wonderful places, wonderful people.

    The sixth time, we were all literally robbed by Mexican police officers at the airport who claimed we couldn’t leave the country without paying an “exit tax” of $200 USD each, and told us we either paid and got on our flight home or we didn’t pay and they took us to prison.

    I don’t go back to Mexico now.

    • A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Andrew Callaghan’s Channel 5 has a few videos about migrants coming to America, and a couple of the people he interviewed mentioned being more scared of the Mexican police than the border patrol.

      He actually goes to Mexico and hops the border back into America in one of his videos, I highly recommend checking him out.

      • rwhitisissle@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        4 months ago

        I highly recommend checking him out.

        Didn’t he rape a bunch of women? Or was it just that he turned out to be super pushy when it comes to sex?

        • A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          There was a drama or something, but at this point I can’t be fucked to fact-check every accusation when so many people get accused of shit. I figure if it’s really that bad I’ll hear about it on here, Reddit, or someone else’s YouTube channel.

          Either way, his content is informative regardless of his past, so even if he were a rapist or some shit I’d just continue watching with adblock.

          • rwhitisissle@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            I figure if it’s really that bad I’ll hear about it on here, Reddit, or someone else’s YouTube channel.

            You mean, like, in the comment to which you just replied? Because you are hearing about it here…

            • A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              You gave me two questions, telling me you had no clue yourself, that got -4 karma. If anything, that points to him not being a creep.

              But what I heard at the time is that he was drunk and being pushy. Which isn’t good, but it’s not like you can’t come back from that.

              I subscribe to a lot of channels who would jump at the chance to out him at the drop of a hat so I assumed there wasn’t anything more to it, but if you have anything else to put in the table I’m all ears.

    • flatpandisk@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      4 months ago

      Gotta provide some details for us non Mexican folks.

      They look like they are part of the federal government?

      • IdiosyncraticIdiot@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        It is common for either:

        A - cartel to dress up to look like police men (commonly recognized through wearing masks over face)

        B - police men to be in cahoots with cartel (iirc this is becoming less and less common)

        • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          4 months ago

          Also actual cops, like uninformed police officers who pull you over, will rob you. My friend got caught with some weed over there and while he was handcuffed they tried to get his wallet several times. He finally convinced them he’d give them some money if they uncuffed him and he gave them half of what he had. He said they would have taken all of it if they were able to get his wallet without having to beat him.

  • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    Been to CDMX many times, where I take the subways to get around. I’m a gringo and CDMX has its bad areas like any other big city. They do also have police and cartel problems. Depending on your ethnicity and location, the US is equally dangerous. These things said, I love Mexico City and will always return. It is incredible and the folks who live there are wonderful.

  • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    4 months ago

    I’ve lived in Mexico for over 20 years now, and yeah there is crime, yeah there are problems, but I rarely felt unsafe, really.

    • Damdy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      You ever been to London? I hear about stabbings a violence occasionally, sometimes places I’m very close to. But they’re always gang related, if you’re not in a gang, you’re probably safe.

      I feel like Mexico is kinda similar with an added bonus of don’t walk around with expensive stuff or look like an easy target.

      Does that sound right?

      • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        Mostly right, yes. Stay away from drugs, certain areas, don’t flaunt your money, and you’ll be fine. Lived there for 20 years and I’ve seen some crazy shit but generally, if you behave normally, you’ll be fine.

        Honestly, I’ve generally and consistently felt more unsafe in the US than in Mexico.

      • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        There are hot zones, yes. Border zones are less safe, Michoacan (minis the capital) are not a good place to visit either. Celaya as a city should be avoided, but the Rest of Mexico can be reasonably safe, especially the tourist areas.

        Mind you, I’ve visited Celaya (and Michoacan) countless times and I’ve seen some shit, but I never really was worried for my safety. Stay in the main roads, tourist areas, you’ll be fine.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Been many times when my brother lived and worked there for three+ years. We are gringos. Never felt unsafe. Sure, he talks about a time at Xochimilco where him same some work colleagues perhaps drew the ire of some locals, but really the worst part of the trip was the few times we needed to get in a taxi.

      I’m that vein, that was the one rule we tried to adhere to at the time, make sure, if you take a taxi, to take the sanctioned ones or whatever.

      Now, we drove to Oaxaca once, and some of the towns en route to were sketchy looking. Didn’t have any bad experiences but also didn’t bring the car down under like 15mph either.

      Enjoy! Bring Pepto. I got Montezuma’s revenge every time. I’m starting to think it was the altitude (couldn’t have been the many michelladas, certainly not).

      • SrTobi@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        4 months ago

        Sorry but I have been to both countries and only in Mexico did the state police with big guns extorted money from me. And that was not a nice experience.

        • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 months ago

          I’ve lived in Mexico for 20 years. I’ve been extorted once by police and indeed it’s not a pleasant experience.

          Having said that, usually I have no issue with police there. Police in the US consistently scares the living shit out of me with their attitude, the way they act, talk, walk… You can see they all feel like the trigger happy gunslinging Sherif in town. Police in Mexico is approachable, have done that countless times. I can’t say the same for US police

        • BambiDiego@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

          Is this how we improve the US?

          Tell all the racists they’re behaving worse than Mexicans?

          Is this how we improve Mexico?

          Tell all the Mexicans they’re really just bad Americans?