Mexico’s National Guard tote guns on packed beaches in Cancun
Sun’s out, guns out.
Shocking photos show heavily armed members of Mexico’s National Guard patrolling among half-naked sunbathers in tourist hot spot Cancun in a show of force against warring cartels.
Images taken Sunday show the officers, fully clad in military gear and brandishing assault rifles, marching through the sand as bemused sunseekers look on.
Other pictures show a long line of armored vehicles arriving after an extra 1,500 guardsmen were dispatched after an escalation of violence killed two tourists, including a travel blogger from California. Other international tourists have also been injured in shootouts among rival gangs.
“This cannot be repeated,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last month as he announced the extra guardsmen during a visit to Cancun.
The new troops will be permanently based in the area, particularly in tourist zones, and will focus on intelligence work, Lopez Obrador said.
Violence linked to drug cartels is blamed for thousands of murders in Mexico every year. As of September, 21,495 people had died from gang-related violence this year, an average of almost 2,400 per month, according to the government.
The US’ advisory currently warns Americans to “reconsider travel” to Mexico, both due to COVID-19 as well as “widespread” violent crime including “homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery.”
With Post wires
