Tapachula, Chiapas, August 19. Tourism service providers are constantly facing roadblocks, extortion by criminal groups, and intimidation on stretches leading to towns in the Sierra, border, and jungle areas of Chiapas.
According to the testimony of one of them, with four decades in the sector, due to the situation of violence and insecurity that plagues these areas, they have been forced to go around Tabasco and Guatemala to reach some places in Chiapas territory, and in other cases, divert tourists to destinations in Guatemala or to the states of Yucatán and Quintana Roo.
"The situation on the southern border highway, which runs from Lagos de Montebello to Chankalá, has also been affected. In fact, tourism has dropped significantly because people have to pay tolls to cross there —even tourist cars in the Bonampak and Yaxchilán areas," said the guide, who agreed to an interview on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
He explained that the tourism agency he operates with has stopped offering services to the towns in the emblematic Lacandon Jungle, where he estimated that the influx has plummeted by up to 90 percent .
During the patrols, he said, they have observed the presence of small criminal groups setting up roadblocks, taking advantage of the confusion caused by the presence of cartels fighting for control of territories and routes for drug, migrant, and arms trafficking.
He mentioned that a few days ago he took a group of French tourists from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Guatemala, passing through Frontera Comalapa—a town besieged by the ongoing confrontation between the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.
A few meters from an intersection leading to the Colón Lakes, he was approached by men who identified themselves as municipal police officers, without specifying which locality; they took photographs and searched the vehicle in which the foreigners were traveling.
