Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (“CFK”) has just picked Amado Boudou as vice president candidate. It would be impossible to understand in another country, but this is just Argentina.

CFK, as her predecessor, Mr Nestor Kirchner, are typical peronists: no ideology, no ethics. They just love power and populism to profit from commodities-numb “richpeople”.

The vertical, almost monarchical picking up Amado Boudou is a typical case of late phase Peronist Government. As with General Juan Domingo Peron, when he felt ill and weak he just embraced his closest friends (dictators and mob heads including Franco, Stroessner, Hitler, Mussolini, Trujillo, etc.).

In this case, the peronist in command has gone beyond any imagination: picking a CEMA professional. CEMA is the learning center I feel proud of, a Chicago University students, an orthodox economics school teaching the good things you get when letting the market forces flow. If Mr Boudou has ever attended at least one lesson of this school he would never be doing what he is doing right now (destroying the economy, scaring all investors but the Kirchner’s friends).

Can the CEMA publish Mr Boudou’s marks? I’d be happhy to hear that. I will call the CEMA and ASK for that. He does not deserve to be an economist. I am sure he is not en Economist.

The murder and kidnapping rate are rising, that is an undeniable fact.  Murder rate had gone down from 17 murders per 100.000 inhabitants in 1997, to some 10/100.000 in 2007, but since then it has been growing, and is now estimated at 12-15/100.000. To give it some perspective, the murder rate in USA is now around 5.5/100.000, and in Western Europe some 1/100.000. So an American can say “if I go to Mexico I will have twice the chance of being killed”, while an European would say “If I travel to the USA, I will have 5 times more probabilities of being killed”.

So far, this is the hard data. But looking deeper in to the figures there is some more interesting information that you should consider if you are analyzing traveling to Mexico:

1)Tourists are very rarely killed in Mexico. The most recent, and very rare cases (they get a lot of media coverage because of being rare) were the following: i)the wife of a US penitentiary officer targeted by the drug gangs as some revenge in the north border (south US border), ii)A wife allegedly killed by her American husband in a Cancún resort.

2)Kidnappers rarely target foreigners.  They do a lot of intelligence, chasing rich local families and businessmen.  Foreigners are not attractive targets.

3)Violence is concentrated only in some places, mostly away from touristic areas.  Most of the violence is because of the clash of rival drug gangs, or between them and the police/army.  Most of the violent events happen in the northern states (US border), Michoacan, the Mexico City poor suburbs, and Guerrero.  The only “touristic” place is Guerrero (Acapulco is in Guerrero).  You need to be very unlucky to be caught in the cross fire.

So my conclusions are the following:

• Mexico is a safe place for tourists

though you may consider the following advise:

• Avoid driving by night in isolated highways, especially in Mexican northern states (there have been some isolated events in daytime also in the last couple of months)
• Stay in the touristic places
• Have the usual precautions when traveling anywhere

Casa Playa Maya is a great option for renting a villa at Soliman Bay.  It boasts 4 comfortable bedrooms/bathrooms plus two separate bungalows, it can accomodate 10-18 people.  The house is very cozy and comfortable, but the main attraction is certainly the beach and the coral reef.  Soliman Bay is excellent

1)Know more beaches. Yours is surely great (as all of them) but some beach variety is highly advisable.  The white sands of Cancún are ok, but you may like to explore the deserted and virgin beaches in the Sian Kahn Reserve (south of Tulum, on the Tulum-Boca Paila beach road).  The Tulum beaches are less crowded and with small coves. The Soliman Bay beach is like a pool, the best for snorkeling on the continent side.  Akumal beaches and the lagoon are also great for snorkeling.  The Playa del Carmen northern beaches (like Mamita´s) are the euro-chic beach spots.

2)Eat at the excellent restaurants of the Mayan Riviera: leave (at least for one night!) the all-you-can-eat boring places inside your resort.  Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulúm have great restaurants, excellent food from around the world, and a lively atmosphere impossible to get in a resort.  Try the Puerto Madero in Cancún, the Glass Bar in Playa del Carmen and the Zamas in Tulúm.

3)Experience the history.  Visit the Mayan ruins of Tulúm, Cobá or Chichen Itzá. Go to Mérida, a beautiful city that combines colonial history with the more recent boom of the henequen haciendas (old and big farms that produced cord, they were run by very rich families that kept their homes with all the European luxury they could afford).  Many of these haciendas are now luxury boutique hotels and restaurants

4)Dive, learn to dive or snorkel at Cozumel: a coral reef with an unique underwater life, and a magic blue/turquoise sea

5)Live the vibrant nightlife of Playa del Carmen, cool people, cool places, avoid the American tourist traps with familiar names.  Have a drink at El Diablito Cha Cha Cha, have another and dance at La Santanera.

1)Blue Parrot Suites: I stayed there last November and almost had to fight to access to my room.  Despite I had warned that I would check in very late (around midnight) they had not check in service clerk.  The worst of all was that I had to go through a very violent group of bouncers who were “controlling” the access to the Blue Parrot bar, where the small reception is located.  It took me something close was to a fist fight to access the hotel. After a lot of discussion a dumb guard (who apparently had not been informed of our late check in) led us to our rooms (300 yards away).  The suite was ok, the price was also ok as it was low season (around $100), but it was too noisy.  You could hear loud music from all the 3 or 4 beach bars in the neighborhood. On top of this, the last afternoon, while trying to chill out after arriving from the beach, we had to listen to a show of two drunk guys who have taken to the pool a CD player with very loud “banda norteña” music (the music the drug dealers like in northern Mexico).

All hotel service was extremely poor. As a summary, not a place to rest and especially not a place you will like if you also hate (like me) disco gorilla bouncers.  A year before I stayed at the Blue Parrot 5th Avenue (100 yards away from the main Blue Parrot Hotel), and the experience was good.  The room was ample, we paid $ 65 + tax, it was quiet and the service was ok.

2)Diamante K cabins (Tulúm): located at the hotels zone (“Zona Hotelera de Tulúm”) in Tulúm, Diamante K offers a “natural paradise” for visitors.  The location is excellent, the sea is amazingly blue, but the cabins service is a disaster.  Personnel lacks a service attitude and the cabins seemed to have gone the last cleaning round centuries ago.  This was way too “organic” for me…

If you want to stay in this area, please go to “La Vitta e bella” or “Ana y José”.  They are both very good, though they have substantially increased prices in the last years (to around $ 200 in high season).

The place is nicely decorated (lot of Italian furniture) and is always lively with above-average tourists (not the loud drunk guys in t-shirts) and locals. It has an ample terrace.  It is on 10th Street, between 1st and 5th Avenues. Reservations: 984 803 1676.

Cancún, the most known of them, and the closest to the airport, caters mostly to US “traditional” tourists, who prefer huge all-inclusive 5-star resorts.  Nightlife has plenty of options, mostly dance clubs where it is frequent to spot “girls gone wild” scenes.  Beaches are just perfect, and restaurant offer is diverse and meets the highest standards. The main disadvantage is that there is no “village & beach life”, to mingle with other tourists and locals you have no other option but to drive to a shopping mall or a dance club. Beach social life is also secluded to the private beach of your hotel. I personally do not like big hotels and the Cancún “tourism lifestyle”, though the beaches and the restaurants are probably slightly better than those of Playa del Carmen and Tulúm.  My top restaurant pick in Cancún is Restaurante Puerto Madero, and classy Argentine-beef-plus-seafood place by a marina.  It has a beatiful terrace overlooking the marina and the Cancún lagoon.

Playa del Carmen, just 70 km (43 miles) south of Cancun has experienced a fast growth (the fastest according to Guiness), and evolved from a small fishermen village to a huge city in just 10 years. As opposed to Cancun, hotels are much smaller and most of them are not all-inclusive (though there are many all-inclusive resorts along the highway and by the beach all the way in the 110 km (68 miles) road that separate Cancun from Tulum).  European tourists favor Playa del Carmen.  Playa (as it is know locally), as many beaches in Mexico has an important Italian residents community, that is why probably italians, French and other European tourists were attracted to Playa del Carmen in the first place.  Playa del Carmen is today the best expression of the “European chic” in Mexico. Despite of this, Playa del Carmen attracts tourists from everywhere, including a lot of American. In addition to tourism, the immigration was a key driver for such a high growth.  Immigrants came from other places in Mexico, Italy, Argentina, France and the USA.  Playa del Carmen has many beach clubs that resemble Ibiza (Baleares Islands, Spain), like the beach club Mamita´s, home to many fashion shows and other trendy events in Playa.

The restaurant offering in Playa is big and diverse.  My top choice is The Glass Bar, a sophisticated Napolitan restaurant with the best wine list in town.

Tulum is a totally different place.  The town stretches along the road/highway that connects Cancún-Playa del Carmen-Tulum-Chetumal (all the Mayan Riviera) and is as awful as many other new Mexican villages (as opposed to the thousands of old charming Mexican “pueblos”).   Despite the misserable urban planning, some stubborn neighbors decided to build some nice bars and restaurants along the main road.  As you move from the main road to the beach (2.5 km away from town) there are some nicer small hotels and constructions.  So, then, what makes Tulum attractive? Herebelow the reasons why:

1)Firstly, the people.  It has a unique combination of hippies, european settlers, locals, backpackers, radical liberals and refined tourists. Easygoing is the right word to describe Tulum lifestyle.

2)The beaches are excellent, though 2.5 km away from town.  Most travelers prefer to stay on the beach hotels, located direcly on the coastal road.  Many of these hotels are sophisticated thatched roof bungalows, very cozy & romantic, though some of them are dirty tourist traps (like Diamante K).

3)Tulum hosts the only Mayan ruins on the beach. Though not the most important Mayan riuins in the Yucatan peninsula, the Tulum ruins boasts the an amazing scene that combines historic buildings, a pristine beach, the Caribbean blue and the jungle

4)An important urban project, expected to replace the existing downtown is under construction.  Located between the town and the beach, Aldea Zama combines residential and commercial develpment.  With a careful design and ecologic urban planning, Aldea Zama will become the new Tulum center (much closer to the sea).

5)The jungle: on the opposite side of the highway (to the west), Tulum has thousands of acres of jungle.  There are some new developings and a few houses that allow you to stay in the middle of a jungle, and still only 5 minutes to the Caribbean beaches.