Quintana Roo hoteliers demand better security

Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — Through a statement, the Association of Hotels of Cancun, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres, chaired by Roberto Cintrón Gómez, made an energetic call to authorities of the municipal, state, and federal governments for more attention on the issue of insecurity.

The call came after two rival drug members were killed and one tourist injured in a shooting that took place on a Puerto Morelos beach on Thursday, November 4th.

“With situations such as those that occurred in Puerto Morelos and recently in Tulum, due to the fierce and ruthless fight between criminal gangs dedicated to the sale and distribution of drugs on the beaches, and that in recent months has been fought with greater intensity for the control of “the squares” of the most emblematic tourist destinations in the country and Latin America which are engines of the economic reactivation of Mexico, tourism and economic reactivation hang by a thread,” he said.

After the recent death of two tourists in a similar shooting incident in Tulum, he added “and today, with enormous amazement, sadness, and absolute consternation, we see that violence continues to escalate, infringing on our community suspicion and fear for the risk that tourists, our collaborators, our families, and the general population run.

“In this sense, it is necessary once again to insist that the safety and physical integrity of our visitors, collaborators, and our population is the first argument and OBLIGATION that must be provided without it being necessary to proclaim it to promote our destinations.”

The president of the Security Commission in the 16th legislature, Fernando Chávez Zepeda is calling on hotels to denounce illegal acts in areas close to their establishments after the presence of subjects in the area of the Federal Maritime Zone. He pointed out that the takeover for the sale of drugs was detected at 11 in the morning and three hours later, an armed commando arrived that attacked two of the subjects.

Zepeda also said it is urgent that tourism service providers agree to connect their surveillance cameras to the Command, Control, Computing, Communications, and Citizen Contact Center (C5) of Cancun to reinforce surveillance in the beach areas.

As happened in the municipality of Tulum, Chávez Zepeda said that it is necessary for the federal government to reinforce the surveillance work on the beaches and maritime zone to contribute to the effort made by the state and municipal authorities.

“The coordinated work between the forces of order will give results and those responsible will be arrested,” he said.

PRI deputy, Carlos Hernández Blanco, President of the Tourism Commission in the Sixteenth Legislature, said that the confrontation between criminal groups is a consequence of the success of tourist destinations in Quintana Roo.

He says the security issue is complicated and that all of society must get involved because pertinent actions need to be taken to prevent these organized gangs from taking root in the state.