Law enforcement warns Spring Breakers about Mexican violence

The allure of cheap alcohol and a lower drinking age may entice Spring Breakers to travel across the border in the coming weeks, despite a recent travel warning from the U.S. State Department.

However, local public safety officials are warning students about the dangers of crossing the border.

"If there’s a fire fight, you’ll be trapped," Lt. Robert Rodriguez of the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department told a group this week at Texas State Technical College-Harlingen. "Then, you aren’t going back until the Mexican officials say so."

Rodriguez, who was giving a presentation on the dangers of traveling to Mexico for Spring Break, showed the TSTC students recent photographs of people running away from armed gunmen in the streets of Matamoros.

"If it’s going to hit the fan, that’s what you’re going to be doing," Rodriguez said. "Running."

Mexico adds to the appeal of South Padre Island for Spring Breakers because the young vacationers can have the best of both worlds, beach and inexpensive night life, Island business officials said.

But years of border violence and a lower Spring Break attendance has left the Mexico-dependent businesses on the Island struggling as most Spring Breakers lose interest in the border, Spring Breakers and Island business officials said.

The TSTC students who attended Rodriguez’s presentation Wednesday did not express a desire to visit Mexican border towns during next week’s Spring Break vacation.

"Last year this presentation was all about giving the students tips on how to stay safe," Rodriguez said. "Now we’re telling them to go (to Mexico) at their own risk."

Froilan Guitan, a TSTC student from Mercedes, said he does not plan to go to Mexico for Spring Break. But that doesn’t mean other young people won’t venture across the Rio Grande River.

"No matter what is going on, the majority of kids show up for Spring Break and don’t understand what’s going on over there," Guitan said.

The U.S. State Department reissued a travel warning for Mexico last month, specifically border towns, in the wake of escalating reports of violence.

"Large firefights have taken place in towns and cities across Mexico, but occur mostly in northern Mexico, including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Chihuahua City, Nogales, Matamoros, Reynosa and Monterrey. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area," the State Department said in the release.

Despite reports of violence in Mexico circulating locally, the news has not spread to some of the home states of Spring Breakers, Island officials said.

A Spring Breaker from Wisconsin called the A-1 Limousine and Sedan company based on South Padre Island this week, asking if the company still took trips into Matamoros, said Maggie Zaldizar, an employee at A-1.

"I told her what was going on (in Mexico) and she didn’t know anything about it," Zaldizar said.

A-1 had done trips to Matamoros in past years, Zaldizar said. The company would take Spring Breakers across the border to shop or visit the clubs; wait for them to finish their endeavors; then return them to the Island, she said.

"We could cut down on drunk driving by providing our bus service to Matamoros," said Deborah Fassold, who has managed her family’s Island business, Original Tour, for more than 20 years.

Original Tour still does day trips from the Island to Matamoros, Fassold said. But business is not what it used to be.

In years past, Original Tour would take three bus loads at a time to Matamoros, charging between $8 and $12 a person. They would then drop off the Spring Breakers and pick them up at night to bring them back for a day of beach fun, Fassold said.

Texas Week, the week when most Texas colleges and universities have Spring Break, begins this weekend. Business officials expect a good week for business as hotels and condos fill up for the busiest week in the season.