VERACRUZ

[benjio]

I had the pleasure of working here in Veracruz, Mexico for the last week and it's quite an amazing city. It's no Cancun or Cabo even though the beaches are very nice. I've been told this is where many Mexicans come to enjoy the beach when they want to get away from all the Americans in the other cities. Go figure. In terms of its appearance, I'd compare Veracruz to what Barranquilla will probably look like 20 years from now if the economic growth in Colombia continues. It is everything you'd expect from a Latin American Port City that's just beginning to be heavily influenced by American Industrial ingenuity. Everything is under construction so it looks a mess, but there's a glimmer of hope for real progress here! Veracruz's position on the southeastern coast of Mexico and the fact that it's still pretty far from the tourism locales of the Yucatan Peninsula make it a prime land based location for offshore drilling support. Every single U.S. Oil, Drilling and Drilling Supply company in the Fortune 500 is here in full force; and the locals love all the employment opportunities that come along with them. I was actually very surprised to find that my company's presence here is even greater than it is in Macae, Brazil. In terms of Big Oil, Latin America is the new frontier in the Western Hemisphere, and I don't see that changing for at least the next decade.
 
Before coming here I hadn't been to Mexico in quite a while. I, like most other Americans, was gaining quite a healthy respect for how dangerous this country has become. The news in the U.S. gives you the impression that all of Mexico is a war zone, but I knew much better than that. Fear is entertainment. When I asked some of my Mexican friends and associates, no one really knew anything about Veracruz. Surprisingly, out of all the Mexicans and Mexican Americans I know in Houston, none of them were from here or had any family from here. Don't get me wrong, fear wasn't the motivation for me trying to learn as much as possible about this city before coming. For me, it's all about preparation and staying safe. Knowing where not to go and knowing what not to do. Unfortunately, outside of the very little I read about the city on the internet, I had no idea what to expect. But as usual, I did what the boss told me and jumped on the plane, no questions asked.
 
Although I had never seen or read anything about the cartels or the drug war in this city, The Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels have definitely left a lasting impression. From what I've been told and from what I've read in the local papers, it seems as if I've arrived just in time not to have to worry about my own safety. About two years ago, because of significant crack downs by the Mexican Police and Army working in conjunction with the DEA and the Department of Homeland Security, the Sinaloa Cartel decided to move a good percentage of its supply chain to the East Coast of Mexico. This move was also motivated by a long lasting and extremely violent war with the Tijuana Cartel for control of the U.S./Mexican border in the West. Unfortunately, Los Zetas via the Gulf Cartel had already established themselves as this area's friendly, neighborhood narcotics distributors. This resulted in much more violence.
 
The success of the Sinaloa Cartel throughout its history has come from the intelligence of their leadership. While Los Zetas members dress up in military clothing and run military style training camps that are easy targets for Mexican Law Enforcement, Sinaloa hitmen usually look like everyday people (and I say people because they do employ female hitwomen!). Los Zetas are more of an armed faction of the Gulf Cartel, and a lot of their violent acts are performed on civilians with the intention of sending a message or terrorizing. Sinaloa focuses almost all of its acts of violence on rival drug organizations. For them, it is and always will be about the money. Los Zetas is like a street gang, while the Sinaloa Cartel has a well- defined leadership hierarchy that stretches across the Americas and well organized delegation of duties amongst cartel members. The Sinaloa Cartel was bound to win the battle for Veracruz's Port.

Around the time my company began building a plant here, the Mexican government was beginning to realize the true potential of Veracruz as a drilling hub for American Oil Companies. That my friends means tax revenue and big payouts. Big Oil is probably one of the only industries on Earth willing to lace the pockets of corrupt government officials with more money than any cartel could ever make selling cocaine or heroin. The only problem is drilling operations need a lot of security. Late last year, the entire police force here in Veracruz was fired. It turns out there were so many policemen working for one, or in some cases both cartels, the federal government didn't even bother trying to sort the clean cops from the dirty ones. The Mexican Army and the Navy became the police of this city and after a few bloody skirmishes with members of both cartels; the violence began to die down. It didn't help that while having to battle the Mexican Military, the two organizations were still killing each other. Los Zetas response was kidnapping a few top level engineers from Pemex. They knew very well what the motivation was for all the new military presence in Veracruz. But that only made things worse for them.
 
I'm told Veracruz is now one of the safest cities in Mexico and they began to hire an entirely new Police Force. On the way to work the past few days, I have seen at least 10 military transports every morning, full of masked Mexican Servicemen. And when I tell you these guys don't play, they really, really, REALLY don't play. They are heavily armed, very alert and trigger happy. They know very well how dangerous it can be if someone finds out who they are, so they'd rather kill first and ask questions later to protect their families. There is a passionate hatred for the drug trafficking industry and the cartels here, and most people don't want to talk about it (something IV warned me about before my trip but I still tried to strike up this conversation with people like a dumb ass). Most of what I've learned while I've been here is from newspapers and Americans that have lived here since the beginning of all the "friction."
As bad as the media in the U.S makes it seem, there's hope for Mexico and I believe in this country's future. It will however, just like Colombia has been trying to do since the death of Pablo Escobar, have to pull itself out of the shadow of violence from organized crime and political corruption. They have a long way to go. What a beautiful and special city though, and the ladies aren’t half bad either!
 
More to come...

[whitey]

Interesting post Benjio as always ... you sure do get around!


And the ladies aren't half bad?  Which half do you like ... the top or the bottom? 

[michaelb]

Cuatro veces heroica. At least that used to be their city motto, guess it still is. Haven't been there since 1979, so my observations might be a little out of date . It's a great place, I always liked it. Is the Hotel Mexico (right on the corner of Los Porteles) still in business? Probably, although I bet it cost a little more than 35 pesos a day ($1.40 US at the time) now. Is Ofelia still the day shift desk clerk there? Or did she eventually learn enough English to get that better job at the ship chandler that she was hoping for.? 

As benjio posted, it is where the Mexicans go on vacation. The beaches are nice enough, but be careful, the place is full of sharks (not the ones that want to marry you for a visa, real ones that want to bite your leg off).

[braziliangirl]

(...) be careful, the place is full of sharks (not the ones that want to marry you for a visa, real ones that want to bite your leg off).

Be careful Benjio, you keep going to places that are full of sharks. 

[benjio]

Be careful Benjio, you keep going to places that are full of sharks. 

LOL!!! I KNOW!!! I'm just waiting to get sent to South Africa or Australia. 

[benjio]

Interesting post Benjio as always ... you sure do get around!


And the ladies aren't half bad?  Which half do you like ... the top or the bottom? 

Definitely the top half Whitey. I won't go into detail but any fan of Superman or Seinfeld would call Mexico "Bizarro-Brazil."

[htown]

Thank god the incoming president has already announced that he's ending the failed policy of trying to go head to head with the drug cartels.  The Mexican govt is no longer going to focus on fighting drug trafficking, they're rather going to focus on cracking down on the violence.


I say just go back to the way things used to be.  Let the traffickers do their thing as long as they do it quietly.  The gringos get their drugs, the cartels and politicians get their money and everybody wins.  No need to kill anybody.

[InnocentVixen]

Haha, you are showing your roots htown, that is like most of the people here feel, I remember when there was rumors about Salma Hayek's new movie and people sounding so shocked about her talking to drug dealers and such to get ready for her part, they just don't understand that down here the families are so big and close together that is hard not to be linked to one and they are not the monsters you would imagine them to be, Benjio does have a point though, you find Sinaloa cartel pretty much about everywhere but they are friendly and nice enough, they are just doing biz (not that I agree with their business but they could be messier about it)


About Veracruz being the place mexicans go to vacation, I've never been there or known anyone that has gone there on vacation, I know of people that go for work because is such an important port, maybe the people in the area close by... that sounds about right, people going to the closest beach, must be nicer than the pacific.

[htown]

Never been to veracruz but it sounds similar to tampico.  A port city with a bunch of petro business going on.  Tampico has beaches but most of the people who go their are from areas close by like monterrey and surrounding areas.  I think the only reason they go to tampico is it's driving distance.  If it's too far to drive it's not worth going to.

[bcc_1_2]

As you advised I read your thread. A big part of the solution could be for the Mexican government to spend the money on the police force (or army force). The cops I met all got paid dick. In Mexico City for example there are tons of cops running around that make 8000 pesos a month or something.