Taxi drivers in Cancun have been attacking Uber drivers and tourists in an attempt to keep a defacto monopoly on the transportation sector. Taxi drivers used bats, rocks, knives, and even handguns to intimidate and attack ride-share app drivers. At times, the taxi drivers also attacked tourists using the ride-share services.
In the most recent attack over the weekend, a group of taxi drivers protesting outside a hotel in the Cancun tourist area physically assaulted an Uber driver and scuffled with others in the middle of the street.
A video shared by local journalists captured the moment of the attack, where authorities took no action to stop the attack where a mob of drivers repeatedly beat the Uber driver in front of terrified tourists. The driver managed to run away while some tourists could be seen walking away in shock.
Another video captured the moment, also last week, when a mob of taxi drivers carrying sticks fought with an Uber driver while a police officer stood by.
The most dramatic attack took place earlier this month when a 53-year-old Taxi driver fired multiple shots at two Uber drivers that were picking up passengers at the Casa Maya resort in Cancun, the local news outlet El Diario de Yucatan reported. While the shooting temporarily sparked fear among tourists, Cancun city officials claimed that the taxi driver used a pellet gun and not a real firearm.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the attacks have been ongoing for several months since Uber in Mexico obtained a court order allowing it to operate in the state of Quintana Roo. That court order overturned government officials’ attempt to keep ride-share services from operating by claiming that they are not licensed. The intensity of the attacks forced the U.S. Department of State to issue a travel alert earlier this year.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “E.F. Robles” from Jalisco.
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