Posted by Dan Marries - email
PUERTO PENASCO, SONORA, MEXICO (KOLD) - A coalition of Rocky Point tourism officials and business owners say a recent travel warning is unwarranted and wrong.
Russ Black, a Rocky Point promoter who operates a local tour company, has been one of the most vocal critics of the travel advisory issued last Friday by the U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
The advisory says warns visitors of possible "fake" checkpoints on Highway 8, the road to Rocky Point, because of unconfirmed reports.
Black says he was one of dozens of area residents who met with several Mexican government officials from the local government to Federalies on Monday.
Rosie Glover, director of Rocky Point's Tourism and Visitor Assistance Center, said the advisory amounts to a rumor that could hurt already suffering businesses, "there haven't been any false checkpoints at all. And there certainly has been no violence. There has not been any report of anything even closely resembling that so at this point I would like to officially say this is just a hoax.">
The coalition of rocky point business owners and tourist officials say the U.S. Consulate violated it's own policy to not rely solely on unsubstantiated rumors.
Glover says, "with each telling a rumor grows. I just don't think that it should be given any credibility at all. Everyone is as safe as they ever have been coming down here."
Glover says the director of Mexico's federal highway patrol says no incidents of any fake checkpoints have taken place and that the AFI, which is like the American CIA, has also denied any knowledge of problems along Highway 8. |
