Tourists Witness Ugly Political Rift in Cancun

The city of Cancun is breaking travel records this year. But daily squabbles between the mayor’s supporters and her predecessor –removed from the post recently- is jeopardizing the quietness of the destination’s heavenly image.

With temps averaging 32 degrees Celsius and in the heart of the hurricane season, the bad temper of half a million residents in this well-known beach circuit is heating up since Mayor Juan Ignacio Garcia, from Mexico’s Green Party, was removed from his post last July 16.

Mr. Garcia is accused of embezzlement by opposition leaders and he and his deputies were sacked from office by a Town Hall Council led by fellow partisan member Marisol Avila.

Since then, demonstrations and brawls between Mr. Garcia’s supporters and foes have taken place on a regular basis in the streets of Cancun.

Nearly two dozen people have been injured in roughly a week and a half of street fights. The downtown area –where the scuffle is going on- is relatively far from the tourist zone.

Cancun is the number-one travel destination for Americans outside their own country.

Approximately 88 percent of the two million tourists that visit Cancun every year come from that neighboring country from the north.