re: Mexico resorts drugging tourists??

I agree with this.

We live 2.5 hours from the border, and I'll admit that my perception of Mexico is jaded. However, 15 years ago my former boss and I were going to drive to Tampico and see some customers and work our way north. I've also always wanted to drive to Monterrey and spend a long weekend. I've heard it's a really (or was) nice city.

The cartels changed the paradigm. They set up roadblocks and hold up cars on the autopista, they control the police (if there is any) and they extort all the business in their territory. The Mexican government has absolutely no control over Tamaulipas, Most of Nuevo León or Chihuahua. The cartels control these areas. The cartels also control the press so it's really difficult to know what is really happening in any particular city. There was a guy in Reynosa that was publishing a blog to let folks' relatives in the US know if someone was safe or not. They found his head but not his body.

The days of driving to San Miguel or Guadalajara are gone, much less Monterrey. And the border towns are war zones and have no police. They are run by the cartel's para military, many of whom are children.

Mexico is much worse than any of you can fathom.

So with this reality, I have a very hard time going to Cozumel to go diving. How do I know who's really running Cozumel? What happens if I have an accident? Then this entire Iberostar thing falls right in line with my jaded perception.

I'd love to visit the interior of Mexico before I am dead, but something has to change before I do so. And I worry that Cozumel really isn't that different- we just don't know any better.

For now I will stick with Belize, the Caymans, Bonaire, Roatan or the eastern leeward islands.