From the Publisher's Desk
What's Mazatlán Worth?
In the movie Dances with Wolves, when actor Kevin Costner is caught by the army and is shackled in jail, a soldier comments to Costner “you turned Indian, didn´t yah?” After living in Mexico for 21 years, raising a family, being an employer, and obtaining inmigrado status, I may have become part Mexican. Certainly, I have changed some of my viewpoints.
 
According to Forbes magazine, Mexico is the tenth wealthiest economy in the world, with 13 billionaires, 48,000 millionaires and a GDP of over a trillion dollars. It has all the resources to develop a successful economy with a good standard of living for its citizens, but until now has not done so. Millions of people still live below the poverty line.
 
What I have observed is that some foreigners and tourists take advantage of Mexico´s economic struggle to pay fair wages to employees and fair prices for goods. For instance, people ask for discounts on everything from beer to taxi fares to clothing. There is even a group in Mazatlán which with one hand helps with the educational needs of poor children, and with the other actively solicits discounts at stores across the city, urging their members to patronize only those stores on their discount list. What about stores charging fair prices? If they give a discount, they have to increase their prices to cover it. Someone who does not ask for a discount thereby pays more. If customers didn´t ask for discounts, the owner could pay his employee the discounted amount, thereby increasing the employee´s standard of living. I do believe, however, in government sponsored senior discount programs.
 
Remember, too, that as a community service, businesses often donate free dinners, jewelry, art objects, golf rounds, massages and hotel rooms to charity fundraisers without asking anything back from the community.
 
Perhaps people asking for discounts are unaware that business costs in Mexico have caught up with those in more prosperous countries. In Mazatlán we pay more for gas, oil, lp gas, telephone, electricity, cars – all electronics – than Americans and Canadians do in their hometowns. I, like most of my Mexican and American business friends who offer fair prices, find it offensive when customers ask for a discount even though our prices are posted. Mazatlán is still less expensive than other Mexican resort areas and people´s hometowns. Mexican businessmen ask “do people walk into a store or restaurant in their hometowns and demand discounts?”
 
In Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas tourists are being charged $5US for a beer, $8 for rum and coke, $10 for a hamburger, and still those areas are full year round and growing. Obviously, no one is complaining about prices in those resorts. Mazatlán will never be a Cancún as we are a working city. Here you pay an average of $1.80US for a beer, while in your hometown it would cost at least $2.50. Centro Historico beer prices have risen up to $3.00, with no discounts.
So, what is Mazatlán worth? For your money you can enjoy beautiful beaches, sunshine, culture, fresh food made daily, and the friendliest people in Mexico. And you can have an economical vacation without taking advantage of employees and business owners who simply want, and are entitled to, a decent standard of living and a future in Mexico for their children. Mazatlán is worth the same as everyone´s hometown.
Michael J. Veselik
Publisher