The Mexican Military Has Invaded Acapulco, But the Party Isn't Over Joshua Partlow and Gabriela Martinez - The Washington Post
go to original April 5, 2015

Mexican Marines patrolling the beach run to avoid a wave in Acapulco. (Jonathan Levinson/Washington Post)

From the beachfront boulevard, the predominant view here is of tourists throwing themselves into the sunset off bungee platforms above techno-blasting beer bars, as paragliders drift along under billowing Dos Equis chutes.

But closer up, you can’t miss the guns. There are state police with black masks in trucks with gun mounts. Roving pods of armed federal gendarmerie on souped-up three-wheelers. Assault-rifle-toting Mexican marines on foot patrols with armbands that read “Tourist Protection.”

Once the most famous and glamorous beach spot in Mexico, Acapulco has long struggled with drug violence and gang warfare that have sullied the sun-and-sand image. Over the past several months, teachers strikes and street protests have clogged the city. Military and federal forces took control from the ousted municipal police. Mexico’s worst tragedy of the past year, the disappearance and likely murder of 43 students at a teachers college, took place up the road in the same state, Guerrero.

“In the city of Acapulco, we definitely have security problems,” said Luis Walton, the former mayor and current gubernatorial candidate. “We hardly have any international tourism now.”

But despite the image problems, domestic tourism has been inching up. Droves of tourists are arriving — most are Mexicans leaving the capital during the Easter holiday. The city’s tourism department estimates that 350,000 people will visit Acapulco over the next two weeks — and occupancy rates in the city’s 18,500 hotel rooms will surpass 80 percent.

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