Monday, February 7, 2011

A Mexican Tourist's Nightmare in Volatile Egypt

By Allan Wall

·   Mexico's Foreign Ministry has handled the evacuation of Mexicans from Egypt in an outstanding manner

What student of ancient history would not be fascinated with the ancient land of Egypt?  I recall, en route to Iraq in 2005, our airplane flew over Egypt and I gazed down at the green ribbon of the Nile in the midst of a vast desert.

Egypt is in the news in 2011.  The massive street protests which erupted on January 25th and have continued daily have shaken this formerly stable Middle Eastern country and raised a big question mark about its future.

What will be the result of the 2011 Egyptian demonstrations? 

Will it be a stable, democratic government that will safeguard human rights and allow freedom of speech and religion? 

Or will the Muslim Brotherhood be the faction that eventually gains control? Would a Muslim Brotherhood government establish an Islamic dictatorship, persecute the Christian minority and break the peace treaty with Israel?   

It bears watching.

In the meantime, thousands of foreigners were trapped by the tumult in Egypt, and foreign governments have been evacuating them.

Mexico’s foreign ministry, the SRE (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores), has done excellent work assisting Mexicans in Egypt.  At the beginning of the protests, there were several hundred Mexicans in Egypt, some tourists but others residents of the country. 

The Mexican embassy in Cairo was hit with requests from 120 Mexicans for help in evacuation. So the SRE flew additional diplomatic personnel over from the Mexican embassy in Madrid, Spain to help.  The ongoing evacuation is successful. Mexicans are now returning from Egypt.

As of February 4th, SRE official Daniel Hernandez Joseph stated that there were still 66 Mexicans in Egypt, none of whom have requested evacuation.  Some feel safe enough where they are to remain.

One Mexican tourist helped by the SRE was Miguel Ramirez Sanchez-Hidalgo.

A 41-year old publicist from the central Mexican city of Puebla, he had wanted to see the pyramids since childhood.  Ramirez finally had the opportunity to visit Egypt, arriving on January 24th, the day before the demonstrations began.

On February 3rd, he was returning to Cairo from Luxor in a bus. According to Ramirez, “I was traveling in a bus with an Argentine tourist and suddenly a group of 15 young men, between the ages of 18-20 years, dressed as civilians but armed [with knives, machetes, golf clubs, tubes], made us [himself and the Argentine], being the only two tourists, get off the bus. Then they asked for our documentation and then began to insult us, then pull us by the clothing, and finally to beat us on the head and on the back….  I thought that they were going to kill us.  They told us that it was a robbery; they asked for 'money, money' and beat us up while they shouted in Arabic like madmen and in a very aggressive manner….  I stayed quiet and with my hands up, hoping they would stop….”

The thugs (Ramirez believes they were sympathizers of President Mubarak) dragged the two Latin Americans about a hundred yards away to an Egyptian Army tank and turned them over to the Army.  This turned out to be a blessing.

An English-speaking Egyptian Army officer protected them, sending them in a taxi to their hotel accompanied by a soldier.

Upon arriving to his hotel, Ramirez called the Mexican embassy.   In 40 minutes, two Mexican diplomats had arrived. They helped him change his ticket and took him to the airport.  (Reportedly, the Argentine embassy was not so helpful to the Argentine tourist, basically telling him he was on his own).

Upon arrival in Madrid, Ramirez was received by Mexican diplomatic personnel, who took him to the hospital where he was treated for wounds.

Ramirez arrived by plane to Mexico City on February 4th, where he was received by his mother, brother and girlfriend.

Miguel Ramirez was back in Mexico, but he hadn’t gotten to see the pyramids. When asked whether he’d return to Egypt, Ramirez replied, “Yes, the pyramids are there so to see them I’ll have to go back, but it’s going to be a while before I do that.”     

Since he lives in Puebla, Ramirez is actually close to the  Great Pyramid of Cholula, which is in fact the biggest pyramid in the world (by volume), though the Great Pyramid of Egypt is higher.

At any rate, Ramirez is thankful to the good work of the SRE, which has handled the evacuation of Mexicans from Egypt in an outstanding manner.

——————————

Allan Wall, an educator, resided in Mexico for many years.  His website is located at http://www.allanwall.info