howdy folks.. coming to u from the hot sandy beaches of battle field cancun... well not exactly, not yet. i arrived yesterday ( monday ) to find that the hotel/club strip had been turned into a gated fortress. click on the map below.

http://www.omcmexico.org.mx/WebPage/mapa_EN.php

driving in from the south end of the strip i noticed about four check points by military personel miles before i ever saw a hotel. as we drove on, it became appearant the mex officials werent gonna be taking any chances. with 5 road closing barricades spread about a mile apart the authorities must be at ease thinking that a repeat shut down of the conference like that seen at the 1999 seattle, washington WTO wont happen. little do they know.

military in civilian clothes were scattered throughout the rual parts of the landscape fishing, 'fixing' broken trucks ect... federal police cars parked every odd mile or so, military war ships on both sides of the strip and six armored trucks (like used to pick up money at the bank) equiped with a self loading rubber bullet gun and water cannon. Many different colored uniformed soldiers are at ready throughout the strip. Some seem to be more of an eyesore/scare tactic than a defensive force, not even armed with a flashlight. The 'elite' guard look well equiped and more than likely, better trained, these guys got riot helmets shields body webbing to carry more goddies like the yard long 'riot' staff. on the flip side no live fire weapons seem to be visible. I was told its a force 5000 strong.

tommarrow is the farmers march. campesinos from the from the state of Chioas, Qaxaca, veracruz, the state of mexico,Tlaxcala, Morelos, Queretaro, Puebla to name a few have caravaned to cancun. a force said to number 10,000.

tomarrow is the day.

over 14 lectures & rallys have been held through out cancun, preping. cancun is considered a red zone for travel agents because of its year round tourism, so its kinda difficult to figure whose here for what. but from the preparation the authorities have taken, it looks like its gonna be big.

well see what happens.