Visa for Mexicans Sparks Canadian Sex Tourism Discussion ContraRéplica
go to original March 4, 2024

Canada recently announced that it will require visas for Mexican citizens wishing to enter the country. This is part of a measure to curb the influx of Mexican applicants. This has caused discontent from Mexican authorities and other organizations who consider the measure to be an attempt against the good diplomatic relationship between both countries.

This measure was implemented one day after the third meeting between Mexico, the United States and Canada, "A World Free of Child Sexual Abuse Material on the Internet," in which, the Peace Foundation and Te Protejo Mexico provided data that supports that Mexico is one of the main producers of child sexual abuse material and one of the destinations with the highest influx of child sex trade.

"Puerto Vallarta is a tourist center where we have many Americans and Canadians that are coming, it is important to talk about the problem that is happening of sexual tourism." In this way, Eduardo Cruz Moguel, resident of Fundación de Paz, highlighted the urgency of addressing a problem identified for more than 10 years, jointly with Canadá and the United States. Since 2013, Canadian media have denounced the ease with which Canadian sex offenders can travel to countries such as Mexico and Cuba to abuse vulnerable children.

The Canadian government has since stated its commitment to curb international sex tourism from its territory. However, data from the Peace Foundation and the Chamber of Deputies show that this trend continues. The Chamber of Deputies, noted in 2018, globally about 3% of the 600 million travelers, had pedophilic tendencies. In turn, they identified, much of the foreign pedophiles travel from the United States and Canada. Legislators attribute the influx of pedophiles in these countries to the laxity of local laws to sanction this practice.

According to data from the Chamber of Deputies, in 2015 it was registered that annually more than 20 thousand minors were victims of child sex tourism. In addition, Acapulco, Tijuana, Cancun and Guadalajara were mentioned as the destinations with more affluence of this activity. Even about Acapulco, the legislators emphasized, "practically any type of fantasy can be carried out, causing pedophiles, mainly from Canada and the United States, to visit it."

Regarding sex tourism in Acapulco, Alejandro Almazán wrote the chronicle, Acapulco Kids. In which he describes the modus operandi of those who run the child abuse networks in the port and how the locals identify Americans and Canadians as the main clients of these criminal groups. Lydia Cacho's book "Los Demonios del Eden" also denounces the influx of sex tourism in Mexico.

Taking into account that the United States and Canada are the countries from which most pedophiles and sex tourists arrive in Mexico, journalists such as Karina Velasco argue that Mexico should strengthen the restrictions on the access of citizens from those countries. "Around 600,000 pedophiles visit Mexico every year, 1,600 a day, 66 every hour", denounces Velasco through X. In doing so, the journalist reveals the contrast between the ease with which predators can enter Mexico and Canada's strictness in allowing access to Mexicans seeking asylum.

See the original at ContraRéplica

Related: Combating Child Trafficking in Vallarta’s Tourism Sector Urged (ContraLinea.net)

Related: Canada to Reinstate Visas for Mexican Nationals After Spike in Asylum Claims (The Canadian Press)

This material was translated from Spanish using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

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