Veracruz is: SAFE
Reports from school management and from staff members about safety in Veracruz.
Spanish Immersion at Veracruz's Spanish Language Immersion Schools |
The Language Immersion School, Veracruz, Mexico's Spanish Immersion |
| American owned and operated. Come to this especially safe, very warm and friendly city to enjoy the culture of Mexico. (About Us--click) |
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Veracruz is: SAFEReports from school management and from staff members about safety in Veracruz. Here is the truth, the truth that we are living. |
| Updates:
We just visited with the daughter of a ranking official in Mexico's Federal Police. She tells us her father feels Veracruz to be very safe for tourists and foethe local people. (5/22/2012). We started working on this page in late April (2012). We'll give snapshot updates frequently. Today's snapshot is that the City is already beginning to fill with tourists for Mexico's spring break, and everything's just fine. (4/2/2012) |
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from Staff (to see student reports click here)
Ana (in Spanish followed by the English translation) Yo soy una estudiante de Turismo en la Universidad Veracruzana y yo quiero expresar mi sentir respecto a la situación que vivimos en Veracruz, es verdad que hace un año vivimos situaciones difíciles en este bello puerto, pero gracias a nuestro gobierno y el apoyo que este ha brindado en seguridad, Veracruz ha vuelto a ser el Puerto hermoso y seguro en el que se puede caminar a la orilla de la playa y disfrutar del hermoso paisaje. Yo soy una persona que le gusta salir con sus amigos y familiares a divertirse y puedo expresar que me siento segura realizando todas mis actividades, como ir a disfrutar de la música y el baile en el zócalo, o caminar en la noche por el malecón y disfrutar de la brisa del mar. Incluso hace un mes realice un viaje corto a unas hermosas cascadas que están en el estado con dos de mis amigas, algunos dirían 3 chicas solas conduciendo en la autopista es una locura, es peligroso, pero puedo decir que siempre nos sentimos muy seguras, y que pudimos disfrutar de los maravillosos paisajes sin ninguna preocupación.
(in Ana's own words) Mari (in Spanish followed by the English translation) Veracruz es muy seguro como siempre.
(translated by Linda)
Angelica (in Spanish followed by the English translation) Hace 25 años que vivo en Veracruz y me gusta mucho. Para todos Veracruz es una ciudad muy segura ya que podemos salir con nuestra familia a diferentes lugares sin ningún problema en la mañana, en la tarde y en la noche. (translated by Linda) Paula (in Spanish followed by the English translation) Veracruz, lugar seguro para vivir, donde aún puedes caminar con tu familia tranquilos y sin temores con la certeza de que estarán bien disfrutando de sus calles donde juegan un partido de futbol, platican o solo bromean, así también como sus playas, museos, restaurantes y de un lindo atardecer, en las noche puedes disfrutar de sus teatros y de los eventos en el zócalo como es un ballet folklórico, de un baile de danzón etc. Puedes hacer todo eso con seguridad total. (translated by Linda) |
from Management (to see student reports click here)
First here's our quick view. A long and detailed view follows thereafter. Things here are very safe. Bad things happened during a few week span way back in summer of 2011, and at the end of those few weeks the bad stuff stopped. The bad stuff was gang on gang. The wonderful people of Veracruz were not involved. During these few weeks of ugliness, of course, the local folk were scared. But very quickly the locals saw it was all gang on gang, and the city came right back to being its vibrant, fun, happy, exciting self. So actually the city for the locals and for us foreigners never was unsafe. The US media, ironically and sadly, gave you, the general public, the wrong news. The news, as it pertained and pertains to you, is what we're writing here--everying is safe. The reporting by the U.S. media, danger, should only have been addressed to gang members. by Eric (March 25, 2012) Here’s the full story. The Navy has replaced the police force. It’s been at least two years in the making and maybe more. The President of Mexico, Calderon, has been committed to cleaning up the police nationwide. He is also committed to keeping the Port of Veracruz safe. Calderon first cleaned up the Federal Police. Everyone on the force had to undergo lie detector testing. Many, many were dismissed. Today the Federal Police, the new, cleaned up force, receive high marks from the people. The local police were protected until last July by an especially corrupt governor. The new governor has worked hand in hand with federal forces. It was decided that corruption in the Veracruz city police was widespread to the point that the best course of action was to fire everyone. They showed up for work one morning and without warning were dismissed—over 800 officers and other personnel. The infantry of the Navy (somewhat similar to our Marines) immediately and seamlessly took over police responsibilities. The locals are delighted. They trust the Navy more highly than any other organization in all of Mexico. Next in their trust comes the Army. The Army has a large base in Veracruz, and they have joined in patrolling the city. The Federal Police are now becoming trusted as fully as the military. We have a large contingent of Federal Police here as well. With the Navy, Army, and Federal Police it is clear that Calderon is delivering on his promise to keep Veracruz safe. We’re told that the fired cops are invited to reapply. They will be vetted under the new hiring standards for city police. We’ve not heard of any reapplying. The target date to have the new police force trained and in place is about another six months. Nobody down here thinks it will happen this fast. The locals are happy that it will take longer (probably much longer). More corrupt than the police were the traffic cops. They are a completely separate jurisdiction. They were not fired. Instead they received a new boss—an admiral from the Navy and some of his staff. It’s amazing how much difference a day makes. Corruption—crooked traffic stops—ended that day. We’ve asked over twenty taxi drivers about this. The taxi drivers are a very happy bunch. As I mentioned above, some ugly, ugly stuff happened here. But it was all gang on gang. One gang was trying to scare the other out of the state. Gang members are bad people, and they don’t scare easily. And thus the ugly stuff. Now months ago, the few weeks while the ugly was going on, the locals were scared to death. The wonderful people of Veracruz have no experience with bad stuff. Quickly it became clear that this was totally gang on gang. Right away the city started coming back to life. The day that the Navy’s infantry took over for the police the mood on the streets became joyous. For that scary four or five week period, Veracruz wasn’t itself. Before this it had always been itself and at the end of the short bad time it became itself again. We and our students are out at the zocalo or out on the malecon until late into the night. Everything’s as it always was. Everything, that is, except for the part that’s even better—from time to time a police care drives by with the Navy at the wheel. The litmus test for security is “Where are we?” The moment I even start getting worried about safety is the moment that I’ll have us and our students headed for the airport. “How are things?” you ask. “We’re here,” is my answer. And that quickly you know that here in paradise, everything is fine. by Eric (March 25, 2012) |
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Spanish Language Schools, Veracruz Mexico Spanish Language School |
Spanish Immersion, on the ocean in Veracruz, Mexico |