Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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Yeah Bayou gets off to feeling superior to others on this site.
For expertise on Mexico though it's quite tricky.
On one hand he has to work to appear like it's not that bad, that he holds information the people that get their news from the US media don't have. We're all just ignorant. The classic "it's not any worse than any other big city!"
But on the other hand he needs to appear like his easy living down there is not so easy to achieve. It's through his perfect assimilation that he's able to avoid otherwise certain death.

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Here's the disconnect.

Sure, there are places in any big urban area where it's not really safe. And sure there are safe spaces generally in the tourist areas of Mexico.

But nobody is saying it's not safe to drive from the RGV to Houston, or to drive from Missouri to New Mexico. And that is what everybody says about long distance travel in a LOT of areas in Mexico. Apples to oranges.

Pour one out for a bar in Acuna called Ma Crosby's!

Watched a 60 Minutes piece last night about the Mezcal business in Oaxaca. Those families went from barely making a living to raking it in due to the growing popularity and hipness of Mezcal. Our thought was how has the cartel not taken over this business - or have they?

Some buddies of mine have made a couple trips down there to pick barrels for us, and according to them, they all operate under the watchful eye of cartels.

Bayou City said:

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With that said, the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish.

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Disagree with this completely. You want to look "white" and speak Spanish if you happen to find yourselves in those areas. Far fewer problems than people who look like natives deal with. Cartels definitely don't want an international incident to deal with. You can count on one hand the people that have had bad things happen to them in northern Mexico who are white.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Watched a 60 Minutes piece last night about the Mezcal business in Oaxaca. Those families went from barely making a living to raking it in due to the growing popularity and hipness of Mezcal. Our thought was how has the cartel not taken over this business - or have they?

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There is no industry in Mexico untouched by cartels. They either dominate an industry (eg avocados) or are at present content with their small market share or piso.

Well that's right friendly if you!

Just quit listening to the fake gringo news y'all. Listen to the Mexican chamber of commerce. It is safe, unless you:

1) Actually drive anywhere with a license plate that the cartel doesn't like or a vehicle that the cartel really does like. Then it really sucks because your body may never be found. But the cartels help by advising which roads are safe.
2) Take a taxi
3) Take a bus (because it might be a cartel bus)
4) Hang out with teachers


"the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish. Also make sure you don't drive the wrong make or model of car oh yeah and NEVER outside the border states w US plates EVER

Heck I don't like having a yucatan plate in QR but yeah I've seen maybe 1 US plate here and we all joked the car would be in the chop shop by the morning

We went through the QR times the other day and 90% of the murders were taxistas or people in a taxi.

Where things get harry is where one cartel doesn't control a majority of the territory or wants to move in. Jalisco New Generation isnt super active here.

They we're probably more annoyed at you trying to talk to them in general and even more so if it was in guerro Spanish

Taxis are all cartel. Their unin head was arrested for 4 murders earlier this month

This sounds weird but alot of the municipalidades and carteles actually post on FB which roads are open and which are check pointed or controlled by non federal or State Forces

Now would I ever drive a US plated car around Chiapas : **** no. Never

Most Teacher colleges and universities are actually aligned w left wing Revolutionary groups who are also aligned w the cartels. They arent 2nd grade Teachers helping your kid read. They are commandering buses and setting up Road blocks to protest who knows what.

Where they get into trouble is when they comandeer a narco bus. Thats usually why they end up getting murdered. They steal a van packed w drugs and don't know it

having a car packed full to the gills with stuff would only heighten the suspensin. If so that really sticks because those bodies are usually never found or if they are severly tortured since they assume they're rival affiliated. They may have also wanted the car for transport or refitting and that's why they got hit. I had a friend have his truck stolen outside Laredo. It was found w a 50 cal mount outside Jalisco 5 months later. Certain makes and models are a green light. The fact they haven't found them or the car makes me think the car's being used. Usually if they don't want the car they torch it off the side of a cliff w the bodies inside or the bodies burned at the top and the car roles off the side.

So yeah probs had to do w the plates and the make model of the car.

When I see someone with a Toyota here my first thought is "Wow they're rich". If they we're driving a changan or a VW vs a Toyota it probably wouldve helped. Toyota's here are few and far between. Def a way to make yourself a target"

Bayou City said:

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We drove to Chiapas 2 weeks ago for a concert. Didn't feel unsafe at all. Again depends on how large of a target you put on your back. Same goes for the US. We will be in Oaxaca next weekend for a wedding.

Now would I ever drive a US plated car around Chiapas : **** no. Never.

I guess in saying don't believe every thing you hear. There are amazing people in Chiapas and Oaxaca. It isn't all crime and migrants.

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Having traveled to Mexico and Latin/South America for work in some pretty remote places I will tell you that "feeling safe" doesn't mean crap. It is legitimately dangerous for the average American to be in those countries without being in very specific places at specific times.

Sounds totally safe.

Safe and funny to just watch Mexicans on YouTube shooting mounted 50 cal machine gun at commercial airlines.

Tell me about Cabo or Tulum.

We've been to cozumel the past 2 years and stayed at the iberostar to avoid the more urban area and the need to be out at night. We rented a car and the only time we were off resort, other than diving, was to go to specific tourist type places like chankanaab, some Mayan ruins or punta sur. It's definitely less safe feeling than when I was a kid, but maybe I didn't notice then. It was not so unsafe feeling that I wouldn't go back. We did drive along the surf side and got out to take a look at the volcanic beaches. A cop pulled up and was looking in our windows "to make sure there were no valuables in the open." maybe he was looking for a score or maybe he was legitimately looking out for us. He was very polite and we went on our way. I definitely wouldn't go to the mainland

BCO07 said:

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We've been to cozumel the past 2 years and stayed at the iberostar to avoid the more urban area and the need to be out at night. We rented a car and the only time we were off resort, other than diving, was to go to specific tourist type places like chankanaab, some Mayan ruins or punta sur. It's definitely less safe feeling than when I was a kid, but maybe I didn't notice then. It was not so unsafe feeling that I wouldn't go back. We did drive along the surf side and got out to take a look at the volcanic beaches. A cop pulled up and was looking in our windows "to make sure there were no valuables in the open." maybe he was looking for a score or maybe he was legitimately looking out for us. He was very polite and we went on our way. I definitely wouldn't go to the mainland

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lol you can go anywhere in Cozumel and be fine I have on a moped

What about Tulum. Ask away

Bayou City said:

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Most of Mexixo is as safe as any major city in the US. We live here. With that said, the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish. Also make sure you don't drive the wrong make or model of car oh yeah and NEVER outside the border states w US plates EVER. With that said, no idea why they stopped in Coatzacoalcos. Not trying to victim shame but thats just DUMB. It's one of the most dangerous cities in the whole country and one of the most xenophobic parts of Mxico. They don't even like people from different states of Mxico there. Not sure why they decided to stop there vs drive another 2.15 to Villahermosa in Tabasaco. Villahermosa is very safe while the prior is legit top 5-10 most unsafe. Coatz is essentially home rule w little to no support from the federal goverment outside of facade level cartel round ups as politically needed to keep locals happy. I think they didn't have any idea what they were doing. Stopping in Coatz w Texas plates in a 2016 Toyota with the car probably packed full of stuff = no mames.

When we moved here we considered making the drive from Houston to Quintana Roo because weve driven from GDX to QR several times and never felt unsafe. Literally the same round these folks were taking. It took our friends and familys .000001 seconds to veto that idea and then every person we spoke w inside the mexican consltate and banjercito reiterated not to try it. So instad we drive across to avoid alot of the crazy import fees on our stuff and then flew to QR and had a transport company ship our car and trailer. It was an extra $1500 but we didn't have to worry about this exact situacin.

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And then you go on to describe the definition of a ****hole. To your credit, however, most American cities too are ****holes.

"With that said...". LOFL

Madman said:

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Bayou City said:

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Most of Mexixo is as safe as any major city in the US. We live here. With that said, the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish. Also make sure you don't drive the wrong make or model of car oh yeah and NEVER outside the border states w US plates EVER. With that said, no idea why they stopped in Coatzacoalcos. Not trying to victim shame but thats just DUMB. It's one of the most dangerous cities in the whole country and one of the most xenophobic parts of Mxico. They don't even like people from different states of Mxico there. Not sure why they decided to stop there vs drive another 2.15 to Villahermosa in Tabasaco. Villahermosa is very safe while the prior is legit top 5-10 most unsafe. Coatz is essentially home rule w little to no support from the federal goverment outside of facade level cartel round ups as politically needed to keep locals happy. I think they didn't have any idea what they were doing. Stopping in Coatz w Texas plates in a 2016 Toyota with the car probably packed full of stuff = no mames.

When we moved here we considered making the drive from Houston to Quintana Roo because weve driven from GDX to QR several times and never felt unsafe. Literally the same round these folks were taking. It took our friends and familys .000001 seconds to veto that idea and then every person we spoke w inside the mexican consltate and banjercito reiterated not to try it. So instad we drive across to avoid alot of the crazy import fees on our stuff and then flew to QR and had a transport company ship our car and trailer. It was an extra $1500 but we didn't have to worry about this exact situacin.

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I recently spoke with one of my factory contacts in Mexico after they had a line go down. They found the replacement parts a few hours away in a different Mexican city. Instead of driving same day to pick up the parts they sent two guys on a flight the next day, because it was too dangerous to drive the route they needed to go.

Just a data point.

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Dems aren't interested in data points, truths, or facts.

fredfredunderscorefred said:

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Just quit listening to the fake gringo news y'all. Listen to the Mexican chamber of commerce. It is safe, unless you:

1) Actually drive anywhere with a license plate that the cartel doesn't like or a vehicle that the cartel really does like. Then it really sucks because your body may never be found. But the cartels help by advising which roads are safe.
2) Take a taxi
3) Take a bus (because it might be a cartel bus)
4) Hang out with teachers


"the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish. Also make sure you don't drive the wrong make or model of car oh yeah and NEVER outside the border states w US plates EVER

Heck I don't like having a yucatan plate in QR but yeah I've seen maybe 1 US plate here and we all joked the car would be in the chop shop by the morning

We went through the QR times the other day and 90% of the murders were taxistas or people in a taxi.

Where things get harry is where one cartel doesn't control a majority of the territory or wants to move in. Jalisco New Generation isnt super active here.

They we're probably more annoyed at you trying to talk to them in general and even more so if it was in guerro Spanish

Taxis are all cartel. Their unin head was arrested for 4 murders earlier this month

This sounds weird but alot of the municipalidades and carteles actually post on FB which roads are open and which are check pointed or controlled by non federal or State Forces

Now would I ever drive a US plated car around Chiapas : **** no. Never

Most Teacher colleges and universities are actually aligned w left wing Revolutionary groups who are also aligned w the cartels. They arent 2nd grade Teachers helping your kid read. They are commandering buses and setting up Road blocks to protest who knows what.

Where they get into trouble is when they comandeer a narco bus. Thats usually why they end up getting murdered. They steal a van packed w drugs and don't know it

having a car packed full to the gills with stuff would only heighten the suspensin. If so that really sticks because those bodies are usually never found or if they are severly tortured since they assume they're rival affiliated. They may have also wanted the car for transport or refitting and that's why they got hit. I had a friend have his truck stolen outside Laredo. It was found w a 50 cal mount outside Jalisco 5 months later. Certain makes and models are a green light. The fact they haven't found them or the car makes me think the car's being used. Usually if they don't want the car they torch it off the side of a cliff w the bodies inside or the bodies burned at the top and the car roles off the side.

So yeah probs had to do w the plates and the make model of the car.

When I see someone with a Toyota here my first thought is "Wow they're rich". If they we're driving a changan or a VW vs a Toyota it probably wouldve helped. Toyota's here are few and far between. Def a way to make yourself a target"

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Listen to this guy!

So as long as I fluently speak the language, somehow acquire and learn all the unwritten and unspoken local customs, become Facebook friends with all the cartels (are they diligent in accepting friend requests?), don't get all uppity and drive a Toyota, change my license plate in every state, avoid all manner of public transportation, and never, ever, ever venture off the beaten path, I should be good? Sounds like a lovely place.

When I'm in Cancun on a cruise, I love to go to a bar and meet American expats down there. So many fun stories and people trying to talk me into moving there. Gotta admit it's tempting but my wife is like hell no.

BTKAG97 said:

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The Fall Guy said:

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Driving to Chile.

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There are no roads connecting North and South America, so how was this going to work?

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Most often it involves portage around the Darian Gap. My brother and a friend did it on motorcycles in 2007-2008

Burdizzo said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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The Fall Guy said:

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Driving to Chile.

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There are no roads connecting North and South America, so how was this going to work?

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Most often it involves portage around the Darian Gap. My brother and a friend did it on motorcycles in 2007-2008

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70 yr old friend of mine did it last year on his bicycle! He rode from Cancun to Peru, with a portage as you were describing from Panama to Colombia.

Logos Stick said:

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Quote:

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In 2022, nine of the top 10 most violent cities in the world were in Mexico, and a Mexican city has led the list for the past six years

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fc2112 said:

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When I'm in Cancun on a cruise, I love to go to a bar and meet American expats down there. So many fun stories and people trying to talk me into moving there. Gotta admit it's tempting but my wife is like hell no.

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Smart wives are good for keeping you from doing idiotic stuff. She gonna tell you to vote for Trump.

Burdizzo said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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The Fall Guy said:

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Driving to Chile.

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There are no roads connecting North and South America, so how was this going to work?

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Most often it involves portage around the Darian Gap. My brother and a friend did it on motorcycles in 2007-2008

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My wife's uncle recently did a motorcycle trip from California to Tierra del Fuego. The had to take some kind of ferry when they got down to the end of Panama.

In light of current conditions, it seems surreal that in 1980 and 1981 my Houston area high school took about 130 of us down to Laredo and dumped us off at the border crossing to walk across the bridge into Mexico without adult supervision. The first thing we did each time was find a bar, start drinking and later buy cheap switchblade knives. Marching in the George Washington Day parade the next morning with a pounding hangover was miserable. Nevertheless we all came home safely. The people in Mexico back then just wanted our money, not our heads.

fredfredunderscorefred said:

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Just quit listening to the fake gringo news y'all. Listen to the Mexican chamber of commerce. It is safe, unless you:

1) Actually drive anywhere with a license plate that the cartel doesn't like or a vehicle that the cartel really does like. Then it really sucks because your body may never be found. But the cartels help by advising which roads are safe.
2) Take a taxi
3) Take a bus (because it might be a cartel bus)
4) Hang out with teachers


"the drive from the Border to anywhere in or through northern Mxico isn't a good idea if you don't look hispanic and speak Spanish. Also make sure you don't drive the wrong make or model of car oh yeah and NEVER outside the border states w US plates EVER

Heck I don't like having a yucatan plate in QR but yeah I've seen maybe 1 US plate here and we all joked the car would be in the chop shop by the morning

We went through the QR times the other day and 90% of the murders were taxistas or people in a taxi.

Where things get harry is where one cartel doesn't control a majority of the territory or wants to move in. Jalisco New Generation isnt super active here.

They we're probably more annoyed at you trying to talk to them in general and even more so if it was in guerro Spanish

Taxis are all cartel. Their unin head was arrested for 4 murders earlier this month

This sounds weird but alot of the municipalidades and carteles actually post on FB which roads are open and which are check pointed or controlled by non federal or State Forces

Now would I ever drive a US plated car around Chiapas : **** no. Never

Most Teacher colleges and universities are actually aligned w left wing Revolutionary groups who are also aligned w the cartels. They arent 2nd grade Teachers helping your kid read. They are commandering buses and setting up Road blocks to protest who knows what.

Where they get into trouble is when they comandeer a narco bus. Thats usually why they end up getting murdered. They steal a van packed w drugs and don't know it

having a car packed full to the gills with stuff would only heighten the suspensin. If so that really sticks because those bodies are usually never found or if they are severly tortured since they assume they're rival affiliated. They may have also wanted the car for transport or refitting and that's why they got hit. I had a friend have his truck stolen outside Laredo. It was found w a 50 cal mount outside Jalisco 5 months later. Certain makes and models are a green light. The fact they haven't found them or the car makes me think the car's being used. Usually if they don't want the car they torch it off the side of a cliff w the bodies inside or the bodies burned at the top and the car roles off the side.

So yeah probs had to do w the plates and the make model of the car.

When I see someone with a Toyota here my first thought is "Wow they're rich". If they we're driving a changan or a VW vs a Toyota it probably wouldve helped. Toyota's here are few and far between. Def a way to make yourself a target"

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so its safe unless...

(lists a crap ton of things you must do to stay safe)

Bayou City said:

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"teachers" in Mexico has a different meaning than the US. Most Teacher colleges and universities are actually aligned w left wing Revolutionary groups who are also aligned w the cartels. They arent 2nd grade Teachers helping your kid read. They are commandering buses and setting up Road blocks to protest who knows what.

Where they get into trouble is when they comandeer a narco bus. Thats usually why they end up getting murdered. They steal a van packed w drugs and don't know it.

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That makes sense to me. But the point was about the state sponsored violence on a scale not known in the US.

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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Yeah Just Panda gets off to feeling superior to others on this site.
For expertise on Mexico though it's quite tricky.
On one hand he has to work to appear like it's not that bad, that he holds information the people that get their news from the US media don't have. We're all just ignorant. The classic "it's not any worse than any other big city!"
But on the other hand he needs to appear like his easy living down there is not so easy to achieve. It's through his perfect assimilation that he's able to avoid otherwise certain death.

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fify

This thread has brought back memories of youthful road trips.

Who doesn't remember those college trips to NOLA with your buddies where you would stash your truck with the Texas license plate in the woods at the border, hot wire a clunker with Louisiana plates, throw in a couple cartons of smokes to pay bribes at the various check points along I-10, and head on down to Bourbon Street! Good memories!

Buck Turgidson said:

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Burdizzo said:

---

BTKAG97 said:

---

The Fall Guy said:

---

Driving to Chile.

---

There are no roads connecting North and South America, so how was this going to work?

---

Most often it involves portage around the Darian Gap. My brother and a friend did it on motorcycles in 2007-2008

---

My wife's uncle recently did a motorcycle trip from California to Tierra del Fuego. The had to take some kind of ferry when they got down to the end of Panama.

---

There is an online documentary from 1978 about an expedition that crossed in a caravan of Jeeps. They had to cut their way through with machetes. It took them 30 days to cross 100 miles.

Buck Turgidson said:

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In light of current conditions, it seems surreal that in 1980 and 1981 my Houston area high school took about 130 of us down to Laredo and dumped us off at the border crossing to walk across the bridge into Mexico without adult supervision. The first thing we did each time was find a bar, start drinking and later buy cheap switchblade knives. Marching in the George Washington Day parade the next morning with a pounding hangover was miserable. Nevertheless we all came home safely. The people in Mexico back then just wanted our money, not our heads.

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In December 1989, A&M played in the John Hancock "Sun Bowl" in El Paso.
For the Aggie Band, it was a 16 hour bus ride from College Station.

We spent about 5 days in El Paso and went to Juarez pretty much every night. Sketchy but nobody was getting in trouble. Of course we were also in a large group at all times.

In December 1990, A&M played in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego where we famously destroyed Ty Detmer and BYU 65-14. Luckily we flew on chartered flights from College Station.

We spent about 6 days in San Diego and went to Tijuana several times. Some went more frequently than that. We never felt unsafe but of course we were in a large group at all times. One funny thing is that we had a few guys get pulled up by the Navy Shore Patrol when were were crossing the border.

Lots of fun during that era but, those days are long gone.

Bayou City said:

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The guy that founded that got murdered. There's a great Netflix documentary on it and the deforestacin occuring in the area due to illegal logging to satisfy US consumer demand. It's really sad.

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Wow, that's sad. Will definitely watch that Netflix documentary. Do you happen to know the name of it? There seem to be several deforestation documentaries on Netflix. Thanks for posting.

Juarez used to be fun and easy. Just walk over the bridge, go to the bars (Kentucky club Ftw), walk right back over.

Liz said she and her family have contacted authorities in the U.S. and Mexico, but have not received information that might help paint a picture of what happened.

Big shocker.

Mexico sucks.