Mexican businesses blame BPM for the violence in Playa del Carmen.

Playa Del Carmen’s mayor has canceled all future electronic festivals after the shooting at BPM Festival, including the upcoming Arena Festival.

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During the final night of the 10th annual BPM Festival, a lone gunman shot and opened fire outside the club, killing at least 5 people and wounding 19. The gunman escaped. The shooting took place at a wildly popular tourist resort in Playa del Carmen in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. During a press conference, Quintana Roo governor Carlos Joaquín González confirmed that the shooting followed a dispute between two armed men.

“Preliminary investigations conclude that a personal conflict between the two led one to shoot the other. [This] prompted security guards to intervene, which led the gunman to [shoot and repel] the guards.

“The resulting conflict caused [concertgoers] to become alarmed…in their attempt to flee, they stepped over a woman who had stumbled and [subsequently] died during the stampede.”

Joaquín González lamented the shooting.

“The intolerance and conflict of interests [between] these two individuals [that] caused this event fills us with indignation.”

Local media reports initially reported that the dispute was due to ever-increasing drug violence in Mexico between rival cartels. However, the governor’s press conference carefully omitted this fact. Now, local governments and businesses are pinning the blame on the BPM Festival.

Top Mexican newspaper El Universal reported that during a press conference, Solidaridad mayor Cristina Torres Gómez announced,

“At this moment, our general stance is not to allow BPM to perform here.”

The Blue Parrot, the nightclub where the shooting took place is located in Solidaridad in Playa del Carmen.

Torres Gómez then announced that together with town councilors, she’ll review the requirements and procedures to obtain local permits in the areas of security and civil protection. She explained that this is necessary “in order to ensure the integrity of tourists and residents who enjoy the nightlife of the city promoted as ‘the heart of the Riviera Maya.’” Torres Gómez once again avoided the rumors that the conflict broke out due to warring drug cartels.

“It is a decision that we have to make together; we have to analyze the type of destination that we want to have, what kind of events we want to…promote and, above all, what that event entails, what the regulatory framework will be for these kinds of events.”

Furthermore, Torres Gómez announced that she suspended BPM’s next event, Arena Festival 2017. Organizers programmed the event from February 1 to 7. In addition, she canceled all future BPM Festivals in the town. She explained.

Local blogs also posted a photo today of a message spray-painted on a blanket and hung in Playa Del Carmen, which allegedly has one drug cartel claiming responsibility for the violence. It reads: “This is a demonstration that we are here, and it was because you didn’t get in line, Phillip [from] BPM”—Phillip Pulitano is the Canadian co-founder of the festival. “This is the beginning, and we’re going to start cutting off heads of [rival drug cartels].” The veracity of the images and their connection to the altercation has not been confirmed by major news sources.

 

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