IT HAPPENED IN MEXICO

As an American traveling outside of the country in today's world can be a great experience, or a very bad one. Traveling outside of our comfy borders thinking "I'm an American! I have my rights!" doesn't apply to you. The truth is you have zero rights when you cross the border or travel overseas.

In recent years, it has become more apparent that no one is completely safe when on vacation. Don't we all let down our hair when we're somewhere exciting and breathtaking? You don't have to worry about the outside world. I know I've thrown caution to the wind sometimes. Maybe because all the smiling foreign faces that love Americans seem harmless and safe. We’ve all heard stories about vacationers being robbed, assaulted, even killed, yet it is still a popular belief that something like that would never happen to them.

When we leave our borders we are subject to the laws of the country we are staying in. For victims of crime, this can become a living nightmare due to lackadaisical laws, police corruption, blatant cover-ups, and lack of proper resources.

Rebecca S., a married North Carolina mother, thought she had hit the jackpot when her 19-year-old niece Ashley won a vacation of a lifetime: A 5 day trip to Cancun, Mexico!

Rebecca had never been out of the country, let alone on a plane. This was going to be the trip of her dreams…a trip to paradise. Little did she know it would be a rape and escape in paradise.

She would be the chaperone, the one in charge, the one that made sure Ashley would be safe from harm. Little did she know, she would be the prey, not her naïve 20-year old niece.

On May 6, 2007, Rebecca and Ashley flew to their idyllic vacation spot ready to take in the ocean air, the warm sun, the beach and all its beauty. She was ready to relax and enjoy her vacation of a lifetime.

On their third night, Rebecca and Ashley enjoyed dinner and drinks on one of the many popular dinner/party cruises that Cancun offered. From approximately 7:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. they enjoyed their dinner, drinks, music, the beautiful boat, and the serenity of the ocean around them. The experience gave her a new vitality and when the dinner cruise ended Rebecca and Ashley decided to check out some of the night clubs that were near their hotel.

It was after midnight and Rebecca and Ashley walked back to their hotel. As they walked along the streets breathing in the fresh and warm night air, they decided to stop at a convenience store that was next to their hotel. As they walked towards the store, two security guards befriended them. The security guards, “Carlos” and “Javier” offered them a seat with them at a table in front of the store. Rebecca thought Carlos and Javier seemed friendly and nice locals, so they chatted with them for an hour. Rebecca and her niece talked about how much they were enjoying their vacation, how lovely Cancun was, even talking about their families, children and exchanging stories.

Carlos explained that he and the other man Javier were security guards for the empty night club behind them, “The Bulldog Café”. Rebecca was not familiar with the club, and Carlos offered to show her where bands would come and play. He said that Guns-n-Roses had just played there.

At this time, Rebecca and Ashley mentioned that it was getting late and they were going to go back to their hotel. Rebecca stayed behind so she could see the inside of the club. They separated for what could have been the final time.

Rebecca recalls the next moments vividly, “I remember going into the club and looking around with Carlos…and up until this point, no warning, no hint, no flirting, no touching, nothing to make me think anything other than I had met a nice gentleman security guard in Cancun. After we came out of the club I remember saying ‘thank you’ and how nice it was to meet him, so when he offered to walk me to the hotel for my safety, I never thought anything of it. And when he said, ‘Here, let’s cut through the club, it comes out in the back of the lobby,’ I never doubted him. Once inside the club, we walked down a hallway and when I was in the back of the club, I remember coming to a locked door and asking him to unlock it.”

Rebecca continued, “I remember him saying, ‘Give me what I want and I’ll take you where you want to go!’ I remember him wailing on my head with his fist and saying ‘American Tourista you know you want it’. He backhanded me across the face and knocked me to the floor. I remember him tearing at my top, I remember pushing him and saying, ‘NO! Don’t do this!’ I remember grabbing at his genitals in defense, and how his jeans tore at my fingernails as I tried desperately to hurt him enough to get him off me.

I remember his face and his rage and his right hand coming at me and knocking me into a wall. Then I remember telling myself to lay still and pretend that I’m dead and maybe he’ll go away. I remember the colors of the walls. I remember the blood, so much blood.”

The next thing Rebecca remembered was that she was standing in her hotel lobby and her niece screaming at the sight of her. Rebecca started screaming, “Go get Carlos! He did this! Ashley knows where he is! Tell them! Go get him! Help me!” Little did Rebecca know through her swollen and bloody face all they could make out were moans.

The next 24 hours were a blur. Ashley recollects no one being able to speak English except for the ambulance driver who quickly asked her, “How much money do you have?” A credit card was her only ticket to the hospital. They immediately did a rape kit and then wanted to start operating on her battered and broken face and body. She remembers speaking to her crying husband on the phone screaming, “Get out of there before they kill you! Get out of Mexico! Just come home no matter what! They are going to kill you! Don’t trust anyone, come home!"

With those words of her husband of 20 years, Rebecca got up, signed paperwork that she couldn’t see, let alone read. The hotel concierge immediately put her in a wheelchair and told her he would get her on a flight home back to the states right away.

As soon as she was back in North Carolina, she was rushed to the hospital where she learned she had lost three teeth, both eye sockets and cheek bones broken, a broken nose, several broken ribs, over a dozen stitches both inside and outside of her mouth and another dozen around her left eye.

Rebecca stated, “By all rights my face should have caved in from the pressure on the plane and why it did not is a mystery…I was in a hell of a shape, but I was ALIVE.”

A LIFE FOREVER CHANGED

Since the rape, Rebecca’s life has never been the same. She developed severe depression and post traumatic stress for which she had to start taking medication and seek intense therapy. Due to the depression and stress, Rebecca lost her job because she could not perform her job duties the way she used to.

She vowed to herself and to other victims that Mexico would not forget her name. She spoke to anyone who would listen to her story. Lawyers, politicians, the media, and Mexican authorities.

In August, 2007, North Carolina Senator, Elizabeth Dole referred Rebecca’s case to the U.S. Department of State and they sent her a letter stating that the U.S. Consular Agency in Cancun inquired with local police on her behalf and learned that a suspect had not been apprehended in connection with her case; however her case remains open.

Lydia Cacho

Rebecca got in touch with a Mexican woman named Lydia Cacho who runs an organization called CIAM that helps abused/battered/raped women of Mexico. She also helps dozens of American women who are raped every year in Cancun who have not received justice. Rebecca is currently working with Ms. Cacho to help and find others like her who were victimized in Cancun with the purpose of coming together to tell their stories, hoping that other victims know they are not alone.

The Mexican authorities had every intention on NOT following up. I mean, who cares about helping some "American Tourista" who was brutalized by their own people? They covered it up to save Cancun’s precious tourist reputation. They don't tell you about that in the vacation brochure.

It's always about the almighty dollar. Or peso in this case.