California Native Shares His Impacting Experience In Baja

I am a native Californian who has been visiting Baja since I was a child.  There have been many changes over the years, but few as dramatic as in the decade or so since Rosarito became an incorporated city.  Particularly in the recent years, Rosarito has faced a crisis and stepped forward with deliberate speed and leadership to bring order and safety to its residents and visitors. Now as a full-time ex-patriot foreign resident, my real-life experience in Rosarito is far different from the one I see portrayed in the media.  Of the 14, 000 or more full-time foreign resident Americans and Canadians living here, I am unaware of a single incident where any innocent foreign residents or tourist visitors have been victims of the violence visited upon us by the drug cartels.  All but a few of the incidents between drug dealers have taken place, while technically within the city limits of Rosarito, far into the deserted canyons and hills surrounding the population center.   Teen-agers are not, perhaps, the most prudent tourists, but even these young people have ventured into our city for years and not one has encountered the predicted danger.  In 2009, there are fewer of them so far, but they are coming here, and they are having fun-filled, violence-free vacations at bargain prices.  Even the State Department "alert" stated calmly that Mexico is one of the most visited countries by Americans, who are advised to stay in tourist areas!  All of the business zone in central Rosarito is a "tourist area" where visitors walk from taco stands to fish markets, from disco bar to family restaurant, from motels to luxury condos, and from sidewalk cafe to art gallery.   I am a member of the Rosarito Friends of the Library, and we visit libraries throughout the city without fear, even in outlaying colonias.  Recently major corporations such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Applebees, Burger King and GNC Nutrition have opened locations in Rosarito.  Others are coming.  They share our confidence in the safety and sunshine we enjoy in Rosarito. Just so you know... I am semi-retired, but have nothing to sell.  I don't own a business here, don't sell real estate, and don't have a financial interest in the tourists who either visit or don't visit Rosarito and Baja.  It is simply an injustice to watch repeated media reports that use years old video tape and information from other parts of the country while they stand in San Ysidro, California and do their reporting with cameras pointing toward Mexico... where they have never visited. Ken Bell / RosaritoKen@gmail.com