TNB: Traveler's Advisory: El Potrero Chico, Mexico
By
Jeff Jackson
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Edgardo Baca on Surfer Rosa (5.13a) in the Surf Bowl, El Potrero Chico, Mexico. Photo by Alain Denis.
Another example of the continuing disinformation occurred on May 4, 2012 when motorists on the toll road 85D—the favored route for climbers driving to El Potrero—encountered four women and five men hanging from a bridge over the highway. A banner strung up next to the corpses stated that the murdered were members of the Gulf Cartel: “… This is how I'm going to finish off every f*#ker you send to heat up the turf. But it's okay, here are your guys. The rest went away but I'll get them. Sooner or later. —Los Zetas”
Just a few hours later, 14 decapitated bodies were found in front of the Customs Agency next to the offices where climbers get their passports stamped. The severed heads were placed in ice coolers and dropped off in front of the Palacio Municipal, the mayor's offices, along with another dissembling message: “You want credibility that I am in NL? What will it take, bringing the heads of Zeta leaders? Or yours? … Continue to deny my presence here in Nuevo Laredo and you will continue to see their heads. I do not kill innocent people to submit work as you are accustomed … all dead in Nuevo Laredo are pure scums, in other words, pure Z. Sincerely, your father.”
Unfortunately, these assurances on the part of the cartels that innocents won’t be targeted have been shown again and again to be specious. In 2012, in Nuevo Laredo alone, nine bystanders were injured as the result of car bombs, and a casino and a popular nightclub were set on fire.
Another reason that reliable information concerning the drug war is so difficult to come by is that the cartels target media. Consider these examples, again, all occurring in Nuevo Laredo. In 2004 a journalist reporting on the cartels was stabbed 26 times. In 2006, the newspaper El Mañana was blown up by a grenade. In 2010 the offices of the TV Just a few hours later, 14 decapitated bodies were found in front of the Customs Agency next to the offices where climbers get their passports stamped.station Televisa were attacked. In 2011, María Elizabeth Macías Castro, an editor of La Primera Hora newspaper, was decapitated. A message was left: “For those who don't want to believe this happened to [María Elizabeth Macías Castro] because of [her] actions … Thank you for your attention, respectfully, Los Zetas.” Even bloggers and people who post on social media are targeted. For example, in 2011 a man and a woman in their early 20s were abducted, tortured and hung from a pedestrian bridge along with a sign that said they were killed because of posting web entries critical of the cartels. The sign read: “This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet.” Sure enough, within two months four people were killed after posting negative comments about the cartels. El Mañana was attacked again on June 10, 2012, and the paper issued a statement saying that it “will refrain, for as long as needed, from publishing any information related to the violent disputes our city and other regions of the country are suffering.”
The same kind of self-censorship on the part of the press, bloggers and social media is occurring all over Mexico. It’s no wonder some people believe that the violence is confined to those connected to drug trafficking in some way—but that belief is false.
Violence in the Area near Potrero Chico
The metropolitan area of Monterrey, situated adjacent to the Mexico 85/I35 corridor, is an important warehousing center for cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs bound for U.S. consumers. The isolated little towns and ranches of Nuevo Leon are also “treasured,” according to the Houston Chronicle, by drug traffickers as outposts and the region has experienced an uptick in violence concurrent with the ongoing cartel wars. In 2012 alone, according to Reuters, Nuevo Leon had become Mexico’s murder capitol, with 685 drug-related killings as of May.
One gruesome example was discovered on the same day that the editorial board at El Mañana stopped covering the drug violence. Somewhere between 49 and 68 decapitated bodies were found along Mexico 40 just southwest of Monterrey. The bodies are still unidentified because the hands and feet were also cut off and discarded.
Earlier in the year, in February, two U.S. missionaries were killed in the region by cartel members. Also in February, 44 inmates were killed in a riot at Apodaca prison which is close to the Monterrey international airport. Thirty-seven prisoners escaped including the leader of the Monterrey Zetas. On August 14, members of the Gulf Cartel invaded a Monterrey bar and gunned down 10 people.
The list of cartel-related massacres and killings goes on and on. Keep in mind that these examples are confined to 2012 and do not include violence outside of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. If you look at violence occurring in 2011, the situation is even starker. In July 2011, for example, gunmen shot and killed 27, injured 7 and kidnapped 8 people in a bar in Monterrey. On August 25, 2011, gunmen massacred at least 52 people at the Monterrey Casino Royale. According to witnesses, the gunmen stormed the casino and immediately opened fire, killing civilians, then doused the entrances with gasoline and lit them to trap people inside.
Once again, the facts suggest that the cartels act with impunity, and the idea that climbers will be exempt from violence is wishful thinking based on ignorance.
In response to the violence, the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey has issued a traveler's advisory that warns against travel in Nuevo Leon. In addition, the U.S. consulate is "a partially unaccompanied post" with no dependents of government officials allowed. All officials are on a curfew that requires them to remain in the consulate neighborhood between midnight and 6 a.m. For more information check out this Crime and Safety Report for Monterrey. The report is pretty comprehensive. One item that seems pertinent is the kidnapping stats: "The U.S. Consulate General Monterrey was apprised of 17 kidnappings of U.S. citizens in 2011 in its consular district; all of those are unresolved. There were also 11 homicides of U.S. citizens that were the result of a kidnapping. These numbers do not account for unreported kidnappings."
In the case of Kombo Kolombia at the Potrero, it is still unknown why the band was kidnapped and killed. Most reports suggest that they were not involved with the cartels. Once again, the facts suggest that the cartels act with impunity, and the idea that climbers will be exempt from violence is wishful thinking based on ignorance. Foreigners have been targeted and history has shown that climbers are not immune. A parallel might be Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, John Dickey and Jason "Singer" Smith in Kyrgyzstan. The climbing team was abducted and held for a week after traveling to the region despite a U.S. State Department warning advising Americans to stay away. In this case, thankfully, the climbers were able to make a desperate escape.
Conclusion
I started climbing in El Potrero Chico in the late 1980s and I have spent many happy hours drinking beer, eating tacos and socializing with the residents of Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon. As a group, the people of Northern Mexico are perhaps the most hospitable, kind, compassionate and gentle folks I’ve encountered in all my travels. I’ve been welcomed into people’s homes, fed and housed on numerous occasions. In the 1990s and 2000s I wrote several articles extolling the virtues of this multi-pitch limestone paradise and after exploring many other climbing areas across the globe, Potrero Chico remains one of my favorite destinations. The infrastructure that has grown up around the climbing—the campgrounds, restaurants and guide services—have been affected by the drug violence and it makes me very sad to see my friends struggling. However, the idea that we should not report on the situation because it will adversely impact tourism (as some Internet pundits have implied) seems grossly irresponsible bordering on culpable, especially given the cavalier nature of some of the comments on rockandice.com and other climbing websites in response to the Kombo Kolombia story. Reporting on the very real violence and threat of violence to travelers in Northern Mexico is not “sensationalistic” as several posters have suggested. As always, the best way to remain safe while traveling in a hot zone is to educate yourself. I’ve laid out a brief, recent history of the Mexican drug war as it applies to travel in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. What you choose to do with this information is, of course, up to you.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject. Please comment below if you have opinions or information to share.
Let us know!