Drugwar Dilemma: Fighting to Improve Security AND Boost Tourism in Acapulco, Mexico – Forbes

On Christmas day in Acapulco, thousands of vacationing Mexican families gathered under umbrellas on the shore of the cove, a picturesque pocket on the Pacific that has in recent years emerged as one of the friction points in Mexico’s ongoing drug war.  As the sun rose over the bay, women carrying trays lined with hot-sauce covered Styrofoam plates of ceviche and seafood walked by. “Mariscos, camarones,” they called out. Navy officers in white uniforms strolled along the sidewalk next to the beach, machine-gun carrying Federal Police officers peered down from the back of pick-up trucks, and municipal police patrol cars circled the oceanfront. A truck full of soldiers with large assault rifles stood near the side of the road around the corner from the Copacabana nightclub. A black helicopter circled over the passing from one side of the bay to the other. “It’s the Federal Police,” a woman visiting Acapulco from Mexico City explained.