"Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada: Safe and Secure Zones for Tourism" from the Baja Times
| | | “We are creating a safe zone for tourism from the United States in the region that includes Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada. The mayors of the three cities agreed to coordinate the effort,” explained Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres Chabert when he was interviewed by the FOX television, Channel 6 station in San Diego on the morning of the 28th of January.
The host of the morning news program, Lynda Martin, asked the Mayor how he plans on achieving their objective in view of a series of crimes against tourists in the past. Torres Chabert responded:
Police bribes and car-jackings have been our biggest concern in the region, we know it and we are going to put an end to it. That is why, specifically in Rosarito, we are creating a special police force “policía turística,” wearing distinctive special uniforms, in specially marked squad cars whose sole duty is for the care and aid of tourism.
The Mayor added that in Rosarito “will are also training civilian citizens to observe any police-tourist interaction for abuse. They in turn would be responsible to reporting any anomalies to the proper authorities.”
“The Municipal Police force will have better selected and trained agents from here on. New agents will be carefully scrutinized and special training is going to take place. The new agents will be properly prepared and responsible, which is what we are striving for,” added Torres Chabert.
He made it clear before the San Diego FOX channel 6 news program that his appearance there was to offer a secure panorama for visitors from the U.S. He made an invitation for residents of San Diego County to visit Playas de Rosarito.
He explained that some of the violence lately had been perpetrated by organized crime and was not specifically targeted toward tourists, but “it is rather turf wars between criminal groups.”
“That is the reason both the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón and governor of Baja California, José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, have offered the necessary support and resources to bring normality back to Rosarito for a more tranquil and secure atmosphere. They have also offered many soldiers and federal agents, while we work to get the security situation and crime under control at the municipal level. Everyone is working hard to improve the image, safety and security of Rosarito,” Commented Mayor Hugo Torres.
The appearance at FOX channel 6 in San Diego was one of a series of media interviews that took place between the 14th and 16th of January. Another was in the studios of Channel 39 and its affiliate Channel 51, where Torres was also interviewed.
“The Rosarito real estate market is soon going to return to normal. Sale of condos and homes will resume, which have had a downturn since January of 2007. These first few weeks in January of 2008 are already showing slight signs of improvement.”
“The real estate sector is important to the economy of Rosarito, which is the reason the City of Rosarito’s Economic and Tourism Development Department is working closely with the State Secretariat of Tourism Development at the Rosarito branch office.” explained Torres Chabert |
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