A Safe 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara?

Located in western central Mexico with a population of approximately 1.5 million people and a densely sprawling metropolitan area comprised of around 4.5 million, Guadalajara, Jalisco is the country’s second largest city. In addition to being one of Mexico’s most grand colonial cities, Guadalajara is known nationally and internationally for its cultural sites and activities, for its chain of lovely and well-utilized plazas, as the birthplace of both mariachi and the Jarabe Tapatio/ the Mexican Hat Dance, and, of course, for the production and distribution of tequila. Soon it will be widely known as the city that organized and hosted the XVI Pan American Games. Hopefully, a safe and major incident free games at that.

Guadalajara was selected as the host city in June 2006 for this quadrennial competition which is the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics. It is the third time since the games’ inception in 1951 that Mexico was awarded the event, with Mexico City being the host in 1955 and 1975. In fact, Mexico is the only one of the ten countries that have staged the competitions that will have done so more than two times.

From October 14-30, 2011, almost 6000 athletes and about 2000 delegates/officials representing 42 nations from North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean will be participating in 36 sports and competing in close to 400 events. In addition to the majority of the sporting events being conducted in Guadalajara, the following cities in Jalisco also will be the site of competitions: Puerto Vallarta for sailing, the trialathon, marathon swimming, and beach volleyball; Tapalpa for mountain biking; Ciudad Guzman for rowing and canoeing; and Lagos de Moreno for baseball. It is anticipated that from 800,000-1,000,000 people will be visiting Guadalajara for the games, that over 1,000,000 tickets will be sold, and that $2.7 billion will be generated. Moreover, after the Pan American Games are completed Guadalajara will be host to a quadrennial international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, the IV Parapan American Games; these games will be conducted from 11/12-20/2011 and the participation of approximately 1500 athletes from 25 countries competing in 13 sports is anticipated.

Consequently, since being awarded the Pan American and Parapan Games, Guadalajara and the state of Jalisco has been gearing up for them. Overall, $250 million was budgeted to make the necessary arrangements, but that figure has been greatly exceeded and the exact total that will have been expended has yet to be determined. Guadalajara has wisely been using the games as a cost effective means in a much needed sense to build up its sports infrastructure. While utilizing thirteen existing venues (in total, 35 sporting venues will be used), many others have been built for the games and which will be used primarily for the training of Mexico’s athletes after the games are over. Most of these are relatively modest in size structures and include an athletic facility seating 8500 for track and field events, an aquatic center, volleyball, weightlifting, and basketball arenas, a velodrome, a shooting range, and a field hockey stadium. Significantly, 12 kilometers from downtown Guadalajara, the Villa Panammericana/Athletes Village, a mini-city unto itself, with a capacity of 6600 has been constructed to accommodate the athletes and the officials; after the games, it will be converted to private housing.

Within the city and the state, above and beyond sports infrastructure, many changes have been occurring in an attempt to successfully meet the challenge of successfully conducting the games. These changes include some of the following. Guadalajara’s hotel capacity has increased 30% from 16,000-22,000. It’s airport, the Miguel Hidalgo International Airport, has added a much needed second terminal and has made renovations to its customs area. The Macrobus line was completed in 2009 for the purpose of providing a rapid and efficient bus system to and from many of the major sporting venues along its route and the Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta Highway has been completed. A new convention center and performing arts auditorium also have been built. Moreover, general street improvements have been made, particularly downtown. When I was in Guadalajara in early 2011, it was evident that many of these changes were occurring and I was especially quite impressed with the Macrobus system when I took it from Parque Agua Azul all of the way to the end of the line that terminates at the city’s impressive Parque Mirador Independencia overlooking the Huentitan Canyon, just a few bocks after the Zoological Guadalajara.

Yet, the most daunting challenge to insure the success of these games involves public safety and security. It is an unfortunate reality that for the last many decades, no matter where in the world such international multi-sport events take place, that security must be the number one priority. You see, in Mexico, that reality has been exasperated due to the fact that soon after Guadalajara was awarded the games, certain areas of the country have been experiencing an historic increase in violence and terrorism largely related to illicit drug activities; Guadalajara has not been immune to such occurrences and activity.

To that end, in a massive effort to ensure the safety of the athletes and officials, the visitors/spectators, and the Tapatios/residents of Guadalajara, Mexico has indeed made those concerns its top priority. It is investing upwards of $10,000,000 to do so- a considerable portion of that sum is being spent on state-of-the-art high tech equipment. More than 10,000 municipal, state, and federal police along with significant elements of the Mexican military will be utilized. Not only in Guadalajara are these extra security precautions being implemented but also for all of the cities that have venues and wherever in Jalisco that terrorist activities may take place; for example, the nearby American and Canadian expatriate enclave of Chapala will have numerous roadblocks and special monitors installed explicitly for the games to ensure public safety.

So far, there have been positive indications that the organizers of the games and all of the involved entities of the Mexican government have been doing their very best to have a major incident free international sporting spectacle. Among others, Pan American Games delegations from the U.S, Canada, and Brazil have independently conducted tours of the sites/venues and the facilities including the Athletes Village and have expressed much confidence that their athletes and officials will be in a safe environment. However, as is the nature of such events and the society that we live in, only time will tell if those security efforts will be successful. Except for the most fervently religious and/or fatalistic in the second largest Catholic country in the world, it will not be perceived to be a matter of "si Dios quiere."

As for me, although I live by bus only about three hours from Guadalajara and I enjoy viewing many of the competitions that will be taking place, I will not be attending the games. For sure, it has nothing to do with the safety arrangements as I also feel that every effort is being made in those regards. Rather, even though Guadalajara is one of my favorite Mexican cities, I just hate crowds of people, no matter how well-behaved or not, and I deplore paying “high season” hotel rates and other prices that will inevitably be "adjusted" for the duration of the games (although there is an agency responsible to make sure that no blatant price gouging occurs).

No, I look forward to going there sometime after they are over to enjoy- in a less crowded and more affordable atmosphere- among other things, the free cultural events that are almost always happening, the world class zoo, the mirador overlooking the amazing canyon, the fantastic plazas and nearby huge indoor market, its well-preserved colonial ambiance, its excellent culinary offerings, and the famous handicraft suburbs of Tonala and Tlaquepaque. Yet, for Mexico’s 265 female and 352 male athletes who will be competing and for everyone else in any way involved in the XVI Pan American Games, I wish them a victoriously safe and secure experience.