Military Check Point
 


San Felipe, Baja, Mexico

As reported at radiopatrulla.com...

When a person is returning home after a long weekend of festivities in the Port of San Felipe, tired after spending his or her dollars and pesos there and eager for the long drive home to be over, it is disheartening to come up to the military checkpoint and find an endless row of vehicles ahead of them, inching through the bottleneck at a snail's pace.

Despite negotiations between military forces, private, state and municipal government, these long, slow lines continue to occur, which deter tourism.

Although the facilities have been somewhat modernized, the detailed inspections by the soldiers have caused lineups and delays previously only experienced at the border crossings in Mexicali. And not only northbound traffic is affected, but those traveling to San Felipe are stopped. Delays of an hour or more are not unknown, without much consideration for the vehicle's occupants as they are exposed to the high temperatures of the desert.

A complaint forwarded to Radiopatrulla.com reports that the writer was just another open car door and that only a single soldier was left in charge of the inspection, which took about 10 minutes for each vehicle, while the other 15 soldiers at the checkpoint were devoted to admiring the scenery.

Because of this situation, service providers, employers and citizens of San Felipe have decided to speak out and ask authorities to address the situation because they do not believe the actions of the army to be appropriate. The soldiers are a source of intimidation and their comprehensive inspections take place regardless of whether the vehicle contains minors, women or even babies, all exposed to high summer temperatures.