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June 29, 2003
Dear Editor
Just wanted to thank you again for
placing the article about “HELP!” in the
Tribune and the PV Mirror.
The response has been so much more
than we expected! We are somewhere in the neighborhood
of 50 plus people who say they plan to attend. They
seem very excited and are talking it up with their friends.
Having a place to acquire information, answer questions
and assist in solving problems seems to be something
that interests people living here .
It is obvious the Tribune is a very
popular newspaper.
Thank you again
Gary Howard
Dear Editor,
Re: Transito officers.
I regretfully feel obliged to join
the ranks of local residents who use your column to
voice their complaints about the “down”
side of paradise.
My husband and I live in La Cruz
de Huanacaxtle and drive back and forwards to Vallarta
almost daily. For months now we have seen rental cars,
obviously driven by foreign tourists, pulled over by
what I believe are Transito officers along the side
of the road. Lately I have seen this each time we have
made the trip. Several of our own houseguests have been
singled out and pulled over for no reason whatsoever.
They have been threatened with jail, having their licenses
confiscated, etc. The officers are blatantly asking
for money. The standard seems to be around 450 pesos.
One guest was asked for as much as 1000 pesos, when
he balked he was threatened with jail, so he paid…
and he was stopped again further down the road by a
different officer, which cost him another 350 pesos!
For an area that relies almost solely
on tourism this is an appalling situation. Those poor
people are terrified, scared out of their wits and obviously
won’t be back and will, naturally tell all of
their friends and relatives back home, who will tell
their relatives and friends… you know how that
goes. I’ve not been pulled over yet myself, although
that’s probably just a question of time as according
to my friends and neighbors any car with foreign plates
is fair bait also.
I’m sending a copy of this
letter to our American Consular Agency and urge others
to do so also. Hopefully they can exert some official
pressure to put an end to this unfortunate practice.
A.J.
Cc: Kelly Trainor de O. U.S. Consular
Agent
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