Cancún's image as fantasy resort threatened by political controversy

By Seattle Times news services

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Now, U.S. and Mexican authorities are concerned over the encroachment of imperfect Mexico on the nation's No. 1 resort, a fantasy land of hotels, restaurants and night clubs.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning after the City Council resigned this month and the mayor was ousted in the larger municipality of Benito Juarez, where most locals live, speak Spanish and use the peso. Cancún lies within Benito Juarez.

U.S. authorities expressed concern over violent demonstrations following the political power struggle earlier this month, as angry city workers demanded to be paid and the ousted mayor, Juan Ignacio Garcia, set up what he called a "parallel government."

Street protests are common in Mexico — even in such resort cities as Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta — but not in picture-perfect Cancún. Locals refer to the resort as the "hotel zone" to distinguish it from the neighboring city, which draws few foreigners.

Mexican authorities are alarmed about the latest U.S. warning and the perception that the nation's political tumult could affect tourism.

Yesterday, Interior Minister Santiago Creel, Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez and Tourism Minister Rodolfo Elizondo asked the U.S. State Department and the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, to repeal the warning.

Critics say Garcia, a populist politician and member of the Green Party, mismanaged finances in the city, a former fishing village whose population has soared to half a million thanks to the tourism boom. Under Garcia, the city's debt quadrupled to more than $90 million, far beyond the city's means to pay.

Garcia said the city is short of cash because state Gov. Joaquin Hendricks, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has withheld $50 million, money that would ordinarily go to paying salaries and building infrastructure.

The governor's objective, the mayor has told reporters, is to damage Garcia's reputation and eliminate him as a PRI opponent in the 2005 elections. The governor has denied the allegation.

Garcia's opponents say he has fattened city payrolls and overspent on social projects, lavishing money the city doesn't have on items including school supplies for children and food for the poor.
 
"The truth is, no one knows what Cancún's financial situation is. Garcia hasn't provided anyone with any information, not even his own party members on the council," said Arturo Escaip, an economics professor at Cancún's La Salle University.

Garcia said his administration has focused on alleviating inequalities in a city where hotel towers are bordered by slums with no running water.

Newspaper columnist Sergio Sarmiento of the Mexico City daily newspaper Reforma characterized the state's intervention in unseating a freely elected mayor as "anti-democratic."

Compiled from The Dallas Morning News, Reuters, and Los Angeles Times.