travel news review

24 May '99
In western semi-tropical Colima a volcano has rattled state residents and chased army troops out of local villages. After an eruption on 10 May sent smoke and ash skyward, villages were evacuated and the army was called in to guard the abandoned property. Last weekend the protective force withdrew to a radius between 9 and 12km (5.5 to 7.4mi) from the peak as experts predicted a large eruption. As many as 16,000 residents within 30km (18.5mi) of the peak have been told to prepare for evacuation.

21 May '99
Age-old veins of silver and gold have attracted a Canadian mining company to the desert town of San Luis Potosφ, and residents have drawn the line. Over 6,000 residents of historic Potosφ are protesting the mining project, which will jeopardise the health of thousands of families, cause irreparable damage to the area's ecosystem and possibly destroy centuries old buildings that dot the mineral rich hillside. In return for taxing the agriculture-stressed aquifer, relocating 30 families and releasing 15 tons of cyanide and mercury daily, the Canadian company has promised a botanical garden for the region's native plant species.

19 March '99
The Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) has announced plans to establish a new visitors' entry fee starting on 1 July. The fee, 150 Mexican pesos (about $15 US), will be used to increase international promotion by Sectur and to improve their immigration facilities and security. The fees are payable at Mexican check points or local banks but will not be charged to cruise passengers visiting less than three days or to travelers who do not pass Mexico's interior checkpoints which are set up some 26km (16mi) from their borders. All air travelers will have the fee incorporated into the price of their fare.

27 January '98
Politics and Popemobiles: Pope John Paul II will soon be cruising the streets of St Louis, Missouri, in his custom-built "Popemobile". The stretch-golf cart and its papal occupant will be seen by nearly 100,000 during his 30-hour stay in St Louis.

In a show of respect for the indigenous population of Mexico the 78-year-old pope addressed millions in Mexico City from beneath a picture of the dark skinned Virgin of Guadeloupe last weekend. Following earlier political statements in the afternoon he focused on the subjects of human dignity and Indian identity. After visiting terminally ill patients at a nearby hospital John Paul is off to St Louis, Missouri, where he is expected to condemn the excesses of capitalism, woo the young back to the Roman Catholic Church before the new millennium, and enjoy his favorite sausages.

27 November '98
Rumblings are being heard throughout Latin America as more volcanoes come to life. In Mexico, a recent eruption from Volcan de Fuego de Colima in the state of Colima has forced local officials to evacuate residents of Juan Barragan. In Nicaragua, the federal government has issued a volcano alert for both Concepcion, on the Isla de Ometepe in Lago de Nicaragua, and Cerro el Jicote.

In the rainy aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, a landslide at Volcan Casita buried several villages, accounting for a large portion of the casualties. And in Ecuador, the Guagua Pichincha volcano, outside the capital, Quito, is still letting off periodic explosions which are getting stronger and more intense.

23 November '98
There's a new east coast USA to Mexico shortcut - take the ferry. A ferry company, American Viking, plans to start a new service between Tampa, Florida and Progreso, Yucatan. The ferry will leave Tampa on Friday and Tuesday and return from Progreso on Sunday and Wednesday. The trip takes approximately 36 hours and costs will be $144 per person and $199 per vehicle.

23 October '98
The Norwegian Embassy reported that several policemen in Mexico City abducted and robbed a Norwegian tourist last week. The police picked him up outside his hotel after demanding to see his documents, then left him locked in the boot of an abandoned car after stealing his cash and credit cards.

The incident has shocked citizens in a city used to crime and corruption from the police force. Many corrupt police operate downtown near the popular tourist attractions, but usually restrict their off-duty activities to extortion and petty crime.

19 October '98
With little notice, the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City's only independent museum for avant-garde art, closed on 20 September in a cost-cutting measure. The museum, north of the Bosque de Chapultepec, was created and funded by Emilio Azcarrage Milano, the now deceased owner of the Televisa television network. The collection will be loaned out to other museums.

28 September '98
Tropical storms over the past two weeks are causing flooding in Mexico's southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. The floods have wiped out roads, bridges and homes and sections of the Pan American Highway are blocked by landslides. Many small towns in the area are isolated, completely cut off from relief aid. Mud slides this weekend buried the entire town of Valdivia, a small town on the Pacific Coast, leaving hundreds dead or missing and several thousand without shelter and food. The US State Department has issued a travel advisory for the area and health officials are concerned about the possibility of the spread of diseases such as malaria and cholera. With more rain in the forecast, travellers going by road in southern Mexico should check road conditions and the weather reports. Other states affected by the rain are Michoacan, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Guanajuato and Guerrero.

21 September '98
Mexico City officials are planning to refurbish the Plaza de la Constitucion, symbolically Mexico's political and cultural center. As the federal government struggles with seemingly insurmountable social, cultural and economic difficulties, city officials have undertaken a likewise Herculean task: the Zocalo was stripped of all it's park-like amenities in the 1960s to help police quell political protests; the Catedral Metropolitana, built between 1573 and 1813 and one of Mexico's largest and most impressive cathedrals, is slowly, and unevenly, sinking into the ground and threatens to split in half; and the Palacio Nacional, home to the Mexican president's offices and the Federal Treasury, has started to list in the opposite direction. Despite these problems, the officials have grand plans to restore trees and gardens to the plaza and engineers have been working for several years to restore the cathedral to an even keel, and expect to be finished in a few more years when they can then turn their efforts to the National Palace.

9 September '98
Tourism is slowing in Mexico, where the number of foreign visitors has declined by as much as 15%, according to tourism operators there. Pollution, violent crime and the Zapatista protest in Chiapas are said to be causing tourists to go elsewhere.

22 July '98
The Meso-American Caribbean Reef, the fourth largest reef system in the world and home to a broad range of marine life, is soon to receive an extra measure of protection. The governments of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico will sign a pact committing them to protecting the reef, which stretches from Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands of Honduras. In the pact, the governments have all agreed to develop eco-tourism along their coasts, improve environmental controls and promote research and awareness of the reef and its marine life.

22 June '98
When it rains it pours, just not in the right place. While extreme drought conditions continue in the northern states, the south-central areas of the country experienced a torrential downpour this weekend. In some areas, particularly along the Pacific Coast, residents were forced to leave their homes due to high flood waters.

10 June '98
Following the publicity Mexico received from ousting human rights observers from Chiapas, the government has established some guidelines for these visitors. Non-government organizations are allowed to have 10 observers who can stay for 10 days. All must apply for the special permit at their Mexican consulate 30 days in advance of their planned arrival.

13 May'98
With crime on the rise and tourism in decline in Mexico City, hotels have decided to do something about it. Starting in June, several of the city's top end hotels will offer æcrime insuranceÆ for an additional $2 added to the bill. If all goes well, this service will soon be offered at most of the city's accommodation.

Mother Nature must have something against Mexico, delivering it a deadly one-two punch of exceptionally dry weather with virtually no rain, and 100 forest fires. The country has suffered over 9000 forest fires so far this year.

29 April '98
Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet and essayist and winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize, has died in Mexico City. He was 84. He had written perhaps the most probing examination of Mexico's myths and the Mexican character in æThe Labyrinth of SolitudeÆ.

22 April '98
The government of Mexico expelled 12 foreigners last week for violating the terms of their visas. Government officials claim that the expelled visitors were actively involved with the Zapatista rebels, but the visitors claimed they have been merely observers in Mexico in the hope of preventing human rights abuses.

15 April '98
Twelve foreigners were arrested in southern Mexico after 750 Mexican police and soldiers raided Taniperlas, a town in Chiapas. The foreigners were arrested for being sympathetic to the area's Zapatista rebels. Mexico has a constitutional ban on foreign interference in politics.

Trying to control travel traffic across the Mexican border, the US is replacing old border-crossing documents with new laser visas that include digital fingerprints and digital photos. The old documents have been used by millions of Mexicans for decades, authorising travel within 40km (25mi) of the border for 72 hours and allowing more than 100 million legal border crossings each year by business people, tourists and shoppers. The US has tried to assure Mexican applicants that holders of the old documents will qualify for the new. The laser visas, which cost US$45, replace business and tourism visas and border-crossing cards, and will be valid for 10 years. All Mexican citizens who visit the US will be required to carry laser visas.

25 February '98
Mexico expelled over 15 foreigners during the past few weeks for violating the conditions of their visas. The foreigners were all working as journalists or international observers in or around Chiapas but travelling on tourist visas. Police are viewing all foreign visitors to the region with suspicion and are bringing many of them in for questioning. Government officials contend that foreign involvement or ‘meddling’ is escalating the potentially explosive political situation in Chiapas.

Mexico City sank 10m (33ft) in the last century, and is currently sinking at a rate of up to 45cm (18in) a year, according to a National Water Commission report. The capital was built on the remains of Tenochtitlan, an ancient Aztec city. It continues to sink each year as the water-table is drained to supply the population of 20 million.

18 February '98
A museum of Tex Mex stars is to be opened at San Nicolas de los Garzas, north of Nuevo Leon, this Friday. The first of its kind in Mexico, and possibly the world, the museum will house instruments and other memorabilia from stars such as Bobby Pudido, Los Temorarios, Los Bukis, Los Rancheritos, Ramon Ayala and Ana Barbara, among others. The local press expects 25,000 spectators to attend the opening ceremony.

28 January '98
Due to budget cuts, SECTUR, Mexico's Secretary of Tourism, is closing its international tourism offices at the end of February. The tourism department runs seventeen around the world that answer questions and offer travel information to potential tourists. Many in the travel industry fear that closing these offices will hurt tourism to the country.