Cooper......that old argument just doesnt hold water. Your stats are probably accurate, but the idea that Belize is safer is a little more complicated. Oakland, Mexico City, and others you mentioned do have a higher crime rate. But I'm not going to take my family on vacation to any of these places. We are not talking about petty crime here. we are talking about stabbing, brutal beatings and RAPE. These are some sick puppies that need to be dealt with. As a visitor to Belize I can't come "packing". I have to depend on the good people to come to my rescue in case of an event like this. I have talked to some business people in Placencia that are of the opinion that this is going to have to be treated as an international incident before Belizian authorities will address the issue. I have been reading various cruising(sailing) forums and the cruising community is taking this very seriously. I have sailed in many areas of the world and have always been aware of piracy. People I sail with usually have some sort of plan to deal with something like this. Tourists have no such plan. Belize is a small country, therefore crimes of this nature are magnified. The fact that I was so close to being involved in two of these episodes says a lot about how small Belize really is. I'm not easily scared but this has gotten my attention. If I didn't like the people in belize i would have never bothered to post in this forum. In this case it is my opinion that sticking one's head in the sand is the wrong thing to do. I think people should be up in arms about this.

by the way......I have some of your beautiful artwork here in my house in the states.