Recent news stories have shocked and alarmed U.S. citizens who were contemplating a trip to Mexico. While we in public office share your concerns and outrage at any murder, it is important to separate fact from sensationalism. Many of the recently reported incidents happened far from Baja California. Attack on foreign tourists are extremely rare and we feel the message that trips to Baja are safe are being overshadowed by the other incidents.
In the last two years, we have taken a number of actions to insure that tourists and visitors in our State enjoy a safe and pleasant visit. This remains an ongoing effort as statistics now prove it. We have offices in each of our six cities that are ready to attend any incident related to our foreign and national visitors, also a dedicated 7/24 hour tourism assistance telephone hot line (078) is provided to report any incidents and for assistance.
On behalf of the State Government of Baja California, we want to ensure that you are adequately informed and feel comfortable knowing that many of your students will be visiting our region during their spring break. My office is in charge of coordinating and implementing actions relating to the visitors to our State, and as such I take this opportunity to inform and make you aware that due to unfortunate violence that has taken place in locations over five hundred miles away from us, our community is being labeled and negatively affected by media reports that many times and frequently are blown out of proportion.
Finally I want to assure you that our State Government will continue with its best effort to insure the safety of all who visit our beautiful State. I remain at your service as necessary.
Most sincerely yours:
OSCAR J. ESCOBEDO
BAJA CALIFORNIA STATE SECRETARY OF TOURISM
By Amy Isackson
March 15, 2010
Photo by David McNew
Above: Traffic in the U.S. enters Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing, the world's busiest, on June 27, 2008 in Tijuana, Mexico.
Baja Calfiornia's Secretary of Tourism says it is unfair that the U.S State Department's new travel warning for Mexico includes Baja California. The murders of three people in Ciudad Juarez over the weekend prompted the State Department to upgrade its alert.
The U.S State Department has changed a travel alert for Mexico to a travel warning.
Warnings are issued when there are long-term, protracted conditions that make a country unstable.
Oscar Escobedo is Baja California's Secretary of Tourism. He says it is illogical to change the alert for Tijuana due to events in Ciudad Juarez. "Let's say something happened in Austin, Texas and you would have that same reaction for California. It's thousands of miles away. And what happens in one town doesn't mean it happens all over the country. So I don't think it is justified," says Escobedo.
Tijuana police says the number of shootouts and homicides in Tijuana have dropped recently.
The State Department asks travelers to Tijuana to be aware of their surroundings because of long running drug violence. Meanwhile, they ask people to suspend unnecessary travel to various parts of the state where Ciudad Juarez is located.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/mar/15/baja-california-officials-tijuana-not-ciudad-juare/
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The following is a statement from Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres regarding the weekend slayings of three people in Juarez who were associated with the U.S. Consulate there: "First of all, the sympathies and prayers of all of us in Rosarito go out to those killed, their friends and families and their colleagues in the U.S. Consul Service. As of now (Monday morning), we have heard of no definite motive for the killings in Juárez, which is 600 miles from here. We hope that one will be determined soon and those responsible for the heinous crimes brought to swift and appropriate justice. There are some early indications that members of a drug gang might be responsible. If that is the case, it is one more example of the damage done by the global growth, trafficking and consumption of drugs --- and of the need for even stronger international efforts to control it. This is especially true in the cases of those who would kill for their own personal financial gain. "In Rosarito we have had considerable success in this effort. Our crime rate last year reached a five-year low and homicides were down 56 percent. With new services including a Tourist Police Force, we believe that Rosarito is safer and more welcoming than ever to the hundreds of thousands of people who visit us each year and the estimated 14,000 expatriates who have chosen to live here. We know we must continue the work. Finally, our best wishes also go to all the good and decent people of Juarez, which has become a central location in the struggle. We also look for México to increase its efforts in the troubled city." Media Contact: Rosarito Residence: 661-100-6177
Cell: (619)948-3740 ronraposa@hotmail.com U.S. Mailing Address: 2751 Lincoln Court
National City, CA 91950
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Northern Mexican Border's New Daylight Saving Plan
Published 11-Dec-2009. Changed 9-Mar-2010
Northern Mexico’s border cities will soon share the same daylight saving schedule as the United States. The new DST schedule will see these border cities extending their daylight saving time (DST) to last from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, which is in line with the United States’ DST schedule.
Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, as well as the Senate, have both approved a proposal for northern Mexico’s border cities to share the same daylight saving schedule with the United States. The synchronized schedule for the border cities will begin on Sunday, March 14, 2010.
Above is a map showing northern regions in Mexico that will share the same daylight saving schedule as the USA. These parts are highlighted in pink or within the dashed area and are numbered on the map. Note: the dashed lines are an indicative display of the areas roughly 20 kilometers from and within the Mexican side of the US/Mexican border.
New DST Schedule for Northern Mexico
Mexico’s Congress passed a law in December 2009, bringing the DST schedule observed by northern Mexico’s border cities to be in line with the United States' DST schedule. The daylight saving arrangement will affect the following areas:
- Tijuana & Playas de Rosarito.
- Ensenada.
- Mexicali.
- Tecate.
- Ciudad Juarez.
- Ojinaga.
- Ciudad Acuña.
- Piedras Negras.
- Anahuac.
- Nuevo Laredo.
- Reynosa.
- Matamoros.
The synchronized daylight saving schedule also applies to towns on the Mexico’s’ northern border between “the international line and the pipeline located at a distance of 20 kilometers (about 12 miles)". The revised DST arrangement also affects to the municipality of Ensenada in Baja California.
Linda is writing from Puerto Vallarta; nonetheless, what she describes is exactly how our situation here is in Rosarito. We live completely at peace; we are not on the border, we are almost 30 miles Southwest of the border. Even Tijuana is shaping up.
I hope you enjoy reading this article and come see us!!!! Great opportunities are to be had right now before the prices go up. Some properties have already increased in their asking price because the real estate situation has improved quite a bit.
Life is good! Come join us, life is better by the ocean! Velia Amparo Rivas
One Journalist's View
By Linda Ellerbee
Sometimes I've been called a maverick because I don't always agree with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream all the time. The stream here is Mexico.
You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, it's true drug wars have escalated violence in Mexico , causing collateral damage, a phrase I hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent people, some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed.
But that's not the whole story. Neither is this. This is my story.
I'm a journalist who lives in New York City , but has spent considerable time in Mexico , specifically Puerto Vallarta , for the last four years. I'm in Vallarta now. And despite what I'm getting from the U.S. media, the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel as safe here as I do at home in New York , possibly safer. I walk the streets of my Vallarta neighborhood alone day or night. And I don't live in a gated community, or any other All-Gringo neighborhood. I live in Mexico . Among Mexicans. I go where I want (which does not happen to include bars where prostitution and drugs are the basic products), and take no more precautions than I would at home in New York; which is to say I don't wave money around, I don't act the Ugly American, I do keep my eyes open, I'm aware of my surroundings, and I try not to behave like a fool.
I've not always been successful at that last one. One evening a friend left the house I was renting in Vallarta at that time, and, unbeknownst to me, did not slam the automatically-locking door on her way out. Sure enough, less than an hour later a stranger did come into my house. A burglar? Robber? Kidnapper? Killer? Drug lord?
No, it was a local police officer, the "beat cop" for our neighborhood, who, on seeing my unlatched door, entered to make sure everything (including me) was okay. He insisted on walking with me around the house, opening closets, looking behind doors and, yes, even under beds, to be certain no one else had wandered in, and that nothing was missing. He was polite, smart and kind, but before he left, he lectured me on having not checked to see that my friend had locked the door behind her. In other words, he told me to use my common sense.
Do bad things happen here? Of course they do. Bad things happen everywhere, but the murder rate here is much lower than, say, New Orleans, and if there are bars on many of the ground floor windows of houses here, well, the same is true where I live, in Greenwich Village, which is considered a swell neighborhood - house prices start at about $4 million (including the bars on the ground floor windows).
There are good reasons thousands of people from the United States are moving to Mexico every month, and it's not just the lower cost of living, a hefty tax break and less snow to shovel. Mexico is a beautiful country, a special place. The climate varies, but is plentifully mild, the culture is ancient and revered, the young are loved unconditionally, the old are respected, and I have yet to hear anyone mention Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Madonna's attempt to adopt a second African child, even though, with such a late start, she cannot possibly begin to keep up with Angelina Jolie.
And then there are the people. Generalization is risky, but- in general - Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you smile at them, they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the street, they greet you back. If you try to speak even a little Spanish, they tend to treat you as though you were fluent. Or at least not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers track me down after leaving my wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had someone run out of a store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty cents. I have been introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a day dedicated to the dead as a recognition of the cycles of birth and death and birth - and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming a woman - with the same joy.
Too much of the noise you're hearing about how dangerous it is to come to Mexico is just that - noise. But the media love noise, and too many journalists currently making it don't live here. Some have never even been here. They just like to be photographed at night, standing near a spotlighted border crossing, pointing across the line to some imaginary country from hell. It looks good on TV.
Another thing. The U.S. media tend to lump all of Mexico into one big bad bowl. Talking about drug violence in Mexico without naming a state or city where this is taking place is rather like looking at the horror of Katrina and saying, "Damn. Did you know the U.S. is under water?" or reporting on the shootings at Columbine or the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City by saying that kids all over the U.S. are shooting their classmates and all the grownups are blowing up buildings. The recent rise in violence in Mexico has mostly occurred in a few states, and especially along the border. It is real, but it does not describe an entire country.
It would be nice if we could put what's going on in Mexico in perspective, geographically and emotionally. It would be nice if we could remember that, as has been noted more than once, these drug wars wouldn't be going on if people in the United States didn't want the drugs, or if other people in the United States weren't selling Mexican drug lords the guns. Most of all, it would be nice if more people in the United States actually came to this part of America ( Mexico is also America , you will recall) to see for themselves what a fine place Mexico really is, and how good a vacation (or a life) here can be.
So come on down and get to know your southern neighbors. I think you'll like it here. Especially the people.
Mr Olmos was very gracious and his presence added a lot to the festivities.
Attachment(s): Edward James Olmos and myself.JPG
I had the privilege of exchanging a few words with the President of México, Mr. Felipe Calderón. It was a great honor.
Attachment(s): President Calderón as he approaches me.JPG
Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to see, listen to and shake the hand of the President of México, Mr. Felipe Calderón. Several personalities were present as well, including Mr. James Edward Olmos with whom I had a chance to exchange a few pleasantries with as well. It was a great day for Rosarito and for México's film industry. As there are updates to this news and more details are released, I'll keep posting them. I know Mr. Calderón pledged 17% incentives, which I believe is higher than many other nations of the world offer.
I am attaching a picture of some of the personalities in the Presidium. In another two posts, I'll attach a picture of President Calderón and myself; and a picture of Mr. James Edward Olmos and myself.
President Calderon Pledges Incentives For Film Making In Rosarito and Mexico
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---President Felipe Calderón on Tuesday pledged incentives to attract more international film makers and productions to Rosarito and the rest of México.
Speaking to an audience of about 400 people, Calderon pledged an initial $20 million to strengthen the country’s film industry plus incentives to attract productions here from around the world.
Calderón made his remarks at Baja Studios in Rosarito, which was built for the production of the James Cameron’s "Titanic" and where portions of other blockbusters including "Master & Commander" and "Pearl Harbor" have been filmed.
The president was received for his visit by Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres. Other dignitaries attending included Baja Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan as well as many other government officials. Noted actor Edward James Olmos also was a featured guest.
“Rosarito has become a place of great importance for the film industry, and it is precisely why here we announce this program for the promotion of film production," Calderon said.
He stressed that the film industry has great importance in the global culture, as well being as being an excellent source for jobs, income and regional promotion.
“Rosarito has shown that it is possible to offer world-class services to the film industry,” Calderon said. “Productions here have brought international fame to the city.”
For his part, Mayor Torres reiterated the importance of promoting the film industry.
"We welcome the support of the President of the Republic, and we are convinced that this decree will make Rosarito even more attractive to other countries that are interested in filming here, “ Torres said.
Torres noted that film production can be a key to the area’s economic recovery as well as a boost for tourism.
Dignitaries also toured the Baja Studios production facility in the Popotla area of Rosarito.. It was built in the late ‘90s during Torres first term as mayor, specifically for the filming of "Titanic."
It has huge salt-water tanks as well as an ocean front setting. Baja Studios also contains a "Titanic" Museum and has been used as a theme park as well as for its production facilities.
Attachment(s): 1-Governor Osuna Millán, 2-President of México Felipe Calderón, 3-Owner of Baja Studios Mr. José Gallicot, 5-Mr. James Edward Olmos and 7-Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres.JPG
Mexico's passport mandate to be eased
Enforcement lifted for visitors to Baja
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A new Mexican government rule that U.S. visitors present passports when entering Mexico by land, sea and air will not be enforced at Baja California’s border crossings, authorities said Monday in Tijuana.
Francisco Javier Reynoso Nuño, the top federal immigration official in Baja California,said Mexico lacks the infrastructure to enforce the regulations at busy ports such as San Ysidro and Otay Mesa.
“We’re going to stay the same,” Reynoso said following a meeting with state officials worried about how the regulations could affect travel to Baja California.
The rules, set to go into effect March 1 in other parts of Mexico, will not be applied to short-term visitors along the northern border, Reynoso said. Likewise, cruise ship passengers who briefly disembark at Ensenada won’t be required to present a passport, he said.
The announcement of the new rules has come as Mexico has worked to increase security at its ports of entry. The federal government is in the process of installing a new electronic inspection system, known as SIAVE, at its land border crossings as a means of detecting illegal weapons and other contraband.
Southbound border waits have been growing longer in recent months as a result of SIAVE. Business groups in both Baja California and San Diego complained that the additional immigration inspection would create even longer delays, and further stifle commerce and tourism on both sides.
“We were very concerned,” said Oscar Escobedo Carignan, Baja California’s tourism secretary. “Things are going to continue the same. It’s good news for us.”
The regulations, announced this month by Mexico’s National Migration Institute, state that U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico “by air, land or sea” must present either a valid U.S. passport or passport card. U.S. permanent residents must also present documents proving their status.
Because of U.S. travel document requirements, most U.S. visitors to Mexico already carry passports or passport cards or trusted traveler documents such as SENTRI passes when crossing at the border.
“We recognize Mexico’s right to secure its borders, but they should be secured with the minimum interruption of commerce in both directions,” said James Clark, director of the Mexico Business Center of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
By Sandra Dibble, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Uh-Oh! A "Blue Moon" Ends the 00s
As twilight descends on New Year's Eve of 2009, a full Moon will rise in the
eastern sky for the second time this month (the first time came on December
2nd). Many people use the expression "once in a blue Moon" to mean something
that occurs rarely, and you might be tempted to call December 31st's big,
bright orb a "Blue Moon" too. While the former meaning can be traced back
centuries, the latter definition is much newer -- and it's wrong! At least
if you're a stickler about these things.
"In modern usage, the second full Moon in a month has come to be called a
'Blue Moon.' But it's not!" says Kelly Beatty, Senior Contributing Editor
for Sky & Telescope magazine. "This colorful term is actually a calendrical
goof that worked its way into the pages of Sky & Telescope back in March
1946, and it spread to the world from there."
Sky & Telescope admitted to its "Blue Moon blooper" in its May 1999 issue.
Canadian folklorist Philip Hiscock and Texas astronomer Donald W. Olson had
helped the magazine's editors figure out how the mistake was made, and how
the two-full-Moons-in-a-month meaning spread into the English language.
Before 1946, a Blue Moon always meant something else. For example, says
Hiscock, sometimes it referred to an obvious absurdity. Quite a few old
songs use it as a symbol of sadness and loneliness. There's even a cocktail
called a Blue Moon; it's a mix of curacao, gin, and perhaps a twist of
lemon. And, exceedingly rarely, the Moon actually does turn blue in our sky
-- when a volcanic eruption, forest fires or dust storms send lots of fine
dust into the atmosphere.
Our 1946 writer, amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett (18861955), made an
incorrect assumption about how the term had been used in the Maine Farmers'
Almanac -- which consistently used "Blue Moon" to mean to the third full
Moon in a season containing four of them (rather than the usual three).
By this definition, there is no Blue Moon in December 2009; instead, the
last one was in May 2008, and the next happens in November 2010.
But there's no turning back now. The concept of a Blue Moon as the second
full Moon in a month with two, as well as the third full Moon in a season
with four, are now both listed as official definitions in the 4th edition of
the American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin, 2000).
By either definition, Blue Moons happen about once every 2.7 years on
average. The last occurrence of two full Moons in a calendar month was in
May 2007 (in North American time zones; the clock had already turned over to
June 1st in Europe and Asia.) The next will be in August 2012.
The last time a second full Moon last fell on New Year's Eve was in 1990.
If you want to tell your readers, listeners, or viewers that this Thursday's
full Moon is a Blue Moon, go right ahead. Pretty much everyone else will
too. The newer, "wrong" definition is simpler and handier for most people to
grasp and use. "That's how the English language shifts. You can't beat back
the tide," quips Sky & Telescope Senior Editor Alan MacRobert. "Not when the Moon is pulling the tide."
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/about/pressreleases/80285282.html
Effective December 9th 2009, there was a updated ruling proposed that could require much more documentation than before to receive a "Zero Capital Gains Tax Exemption in México when you sell your property".
Take a moment and examine your Bank Trust and all your utility bills and make sure the name is consistent with the Trust. Your FM3's or FM2's should be kept current and it is also suggested you have and keep your bank statements from a Mexican Bank to further prove you are a full-time resident in order to claim this tax exemption in the future.
Take the time to verify everything is in order and if you have a bill-paying service paying your utilities make sure the names are the same. As Realtors, this is where we can get surprised when the bill paying service or new owner never changed the utilities into their name and it can have an adverse effect on a transaction.
México gives this tax exemption to only those who have the México property as their primary residence and one of the ways they verify that is by "usage" on your electric bill. If your electricity and water bill have minimum amounts on them monthly, then it is obvious the property is not a primary residence. PRIMARY RESIDENCE is the key factor here.
You may have only one capital gains tax exemption in a year's time. The Notary MAY have a Seller sign a document that you have been a full-time resident for the Notary's file.
# 2: The New York Times came two weeks ago and took photos of one of the homes in Rosamar for a January feature story in their International Real Estate Section. They called today to verify the ownership questions the writer had. It sounds like it will be a very positive story.
# 3: The new 6-lane road along the border going to Playas is almost finished, but the turn to get to Rosarito and Ensenada has changed. It is best to be in the far right lane (by the military) and you will be in the right spot to get to the Toll Road. There is a new stop light there and the TWO LEFT lanes will take you into Playas. GET TO THE RIGHT LANE.
# 4: With Health Care issues going on in the USA, Mexico is working to attract some Medical Tourism with some great care and much lesser fees. Here is an interesting link for a Puerto Vallarta group of expatriates with a hip replacement for $13,000.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec09/mexico_12-28.html
If you'd had questions about non Mexican Nationals legally owning property (land, homes) in México, the answer is a resounding YES!
Please see this important document that explains it all.
Velia Amparo Rivas
Attachment(s): ForeignOwnershipMethods12-01-2009.pdf
En route to security summit, Rosarito mayor is crime victim
By Diane Bell, UNION-TRIBUNE COLUMNIST
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at midnight
Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres, 73, says he became a crime victim for the first time last Thursday.
And the crime wasn’t in Mexico. Torres parked his 2008 GMC sport utility vehicle at San Diego’s Fashion Valley mall to do some shopping. He was on his way to the second Binational Mayors of the Californias Summit in Santa Ana.
His SUV, parked in a covered lot near Macy’s, was locked and the alarm was activated, but a thief still was able to get in and steal the mayor’s traveling bag, briefcase and two cell phones. Also missing was Torres’ portfolio and papers for the meeting he was about to attend.
One of the topics on the summit agenda was binational security — though security at U.S. shopping malls during the holiday season was not among the items scheduled for discussion.
Torres, who owns the Rosarito Beach Hotel, said he mentioned the theft to a mall security guard but, because of his tight schedule, didn’t have time to file a formal police report or view parking lot videotapes.
“I have insurance, so my items were covered,” he said yesterday. “But I just wanted them to know. Maybe they could prevent it from happening to someone else.”
He said his SUV, which is equipped with bulletproof glass, was undamaged, and he thinks the thief may have used an electronic entry device.
“I have never before been burglarized or robbed, or had anything stolen from me,” said Torres, Rosarito’s first mayor when the city incorporated in 1995. He served one three-year term then and was re-elected in December 2007.
Fashion Valley spokeswoman Francine Miley, while not commenting on the Torres break-in, said auto-related incidents have decreased significantly since the mall installed security cameras in all parking areas in 2008. Guards patrol by vehicle, by Segway and on foot.
DECEMBER 7, 2009
Cuba Gooding Sr. Named Goodwill
Ambassador, Receives Rosarito Key
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---Noted singer Cuba Gooding Sr., was presented a key to Rosarito and named a goodwill ambassador for the city by Mayor Hugo Torres at a weekend concert here.
"I am humbled by this, it means a lot to me," said Gooding, who is best known for his 1972 super hit "Everybody Plays The Fool" as lead singer of the Main Ingredient. He also is the father of well-known actor Cuba Gooding Jr.
Mr. Gooding, who has a vacation home in Rosarito, said he is troubled because some in the U.S. have gotten the impression that Rosarito is unsafe because of the government's crackdown on drug cartels and wanted to help correct that impression.
He told the mayor that he and his family would work to spread the word in the United States that Rosarito is a safe, wonderful, warm and welcoming place. "We're going to get Mexicans and Americans loving each other," he said.
Mayor Torres said the presentation was being made to Mr. Gooding "because of the great work you are doing and because we love you."
The effort to have Mr. Gooding named goodwill ambassador was organized by Baja Times editor Laura Wong and other Rosarito residents, including members of the city's large expatriate community.
As well as helping promote Rosarito in the U.S. and the world, Mr. Gooding said he also would bring other well-known '70s groups including the Temptations for concerts in the city. Mr. Gooding still tours several months a year.
Mayor Torres made the presentation to Mr. Gooding during a Saturday night dinner concert at Reuben's Palm Grill, in the Cantamar area of the city.
A full house of about 100 people enthusiastically watched the concert by Mr. Gooding, who was accompanied by the two backup singers of the Main Ingredient, a four-piece band and an emcee.
Cuba Gooding Sr. with Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres at a meeting the week prior to the concert. Photo by Laura Wong.)
The proclamation presented to Cuba Gooding Saturday night by Mayor Torres follows:
Rosarito Goodwill Ambassador Cuba Gooding Sr.
WHEREAS Cuba Gooding Sr. is internationally known for his music, including the 1972 hit "Everybody Plays the Fool",
WHEREAS Mr. Gooding loves Rosarito, has a vacation home here and is dedicated to helping promote the region,
WHEREAS Mr. Gooding has graced the Rosarito area with several performances and plans more here in the future,
WHEREAS Mr. Gooding is a distinguished and valuable member of Rosarito's large expatriate community,
We on this day and for the future proclaim Cuba Gooding Sr. a Goodwill Ambassador for Rosarito.
December 5, 2010 Mayor Hugo Torres, Playas De Rosarito
Ron Raposa
Cell: (619)948-3740
ronraposa@hotmail.com