DRUG VIOLENCE, UNREST IN MEXICAN TOURIST SPOTS MAKE MANY RETHINK TRIPS

MEXICO CITY - A human head washes up on an Acapulco beach. Protesters
hassle visitors at makeshift checkpoints in the colonial city of Oaxaca.
And in Mexico City, leftist demonstrators turn the tourist draws of Reforma
Avenue and the Zocalo plaza into sprawling, ragtag protest camps.

Mexico's growing political unrest and drug violence are making foreigners
think twice about visiting Mexico, where tourism is the country's
third-largest source of income, after oil and remittances sent home by
migrants living in the United States. The country was already struggling
after Hurricane Wilma hit the country's biggest tourism moneymaker, Cancun,
last fall. The famous beach resort is still recovering.

Protesters who have taken the cultural hearts of southern Oaxaca city and
the capital are angry with politicians, not tourists. The same goes for
drug gangs in the Pacific resort of Acapulco, where human heads have been
dumped in front of government offices and even in the glittering resort's
famous bay.

Bust visitors are still caught in the middle, and hotels are being hit by
cancellations of thousands of reservations.

In Mexico City, supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
have taken over streets to press the nation's top electoral court for a
recount in the disputed presidential race. On Thursday, Korean
businesswoman Sophia Noh, 28, paced outside the blockaded stock exchange
building, wondering how she was going to get in for a business meeting.

"This has made things harder," Noh said. "I think both sides should begin
to negotiate."

Across the street, tourist Elviar Gotuzzo, 60, of Buenos Aires, Argentina,
was trying to rent a car to flee the chaotic capital. She and her family
were too scared to venture down to the city's 7-century-old downtown
because it was occupied by a motley collection of gas cookers, ragged tents
and demonstrators.

"This is a crime," Gotuzzo said. "It's such a shame!"

Despite growing calls from President Vicente Fox and even Lopez Obrador's
own supporters, city officials who are allied with the leftist candidate
have refused to take action. Losses for area hotels, restaurants and stores
are adding up to about US$23 million (euro 18 million) per day, according
to the city's Commerce, Services and Tourism Chamber. Some businesses have
threatened to stop paying taxes.

Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas said city officials agreed Thursday to
guarantee access to the city's hotels and let tourist taxis ferry people to
and from the airport. Before that, many tourists were forced to lug heavy
bags for blocks.

The protesters claim the July 2 elections were tainted by fraud, giving
conservative Felipe Calderon a narrow margin of advantage. The case is now
before an electoral tribunal, which has until Sept. 6 to declare a
president-elect or annul the election.

Protesters in Oaxaca are claiming fraud in the state gubernatorial race,
and have taken over the historic center of the state's capital to demand
that Gov. Ulises Ruiz step down. They forced the cancellation of a famed
ethnic festival and make tourists pass through checkpoints to reach the
picturesque, arch-ringed main plaza.

It's not that protesters and drug gangs intentionally set out to block
tourism, but they do see it as a powerful lever to press the government to
settle their demands.

"They see this as a pressure method, in which they can force the population
that relies on tourism to put pressure on the government," said Jose
Escobar, head of the employers' federation in Oaxaca.

In Acapulco, drug gangs are battling for control of lucrative smuggling and
sale routes.

"This is a market that is being fought over by gangs," Acapulco Mayor Felix
Salgado told local news media. "We can't take on one group, or the other."

While no tourists have been hurt in any of the three cities, there have
been running gun battles on Acapulco streets. Residents say they are quick
to run from the late-model SUVs favored by drug traffickers.

Mexican officials, however, deny any problems.

"The city is functioning as a tourist attraction, though not in a way we
would wish," said Carlos Mackinlay, director of Mexico City tourism
promotion. "If this goes on, for a week or 10 days more, some hotels are
going to be in a desperate situation."