‘Angels’ Keep Travelers on the Move

Orlando Esquivel and Javier Rivera saw the family standing next to their car on the side of Baja California’s coastal highway. Lights flashing, they pulled over and jumped out of their bright green Dodge Ram. Esquivel squatted down to replace the car’s flat tire while Rivera shielded the family from traffic.

Minutes later, the men were finished, back in their truck and headed down the road, without having received even a peso. Esquivel and Rivera are Angeles Verdes, or Green Angels, members of Mexico’s free roadside and rescue service. Defying the myth that Mexico’s highways are unsafe for travelers, the mechanics patrol the roads in repair trucks and work at lightning speed -- jump-starting cars, replacing broken parts and fueling empty tanks.

Angeles Verdes, who work part time, earn about $400 per month plus tips, which requires most to hold second jobs. Still, they take pride in helping distressed travelers. One calls it therapy. More than a few say it is addictive. Esquivel says he would rather be on Mexico’s carreteras than anywhere else in the world.

“When I have vacation time, I don’t take it,” said Esquivel, who has been a Green Angel for 12 years. “I come out to the highway.”

The recent death of the head of Baja California’s office, however, reminded Mexico’s Green Angels that road work is also risky. A car struck and killed 70-year-old Rafael Medina near Rosarito on June 27 as he was helping a Torrance couple whose van had a failed alternator. The accident occurred just days before Medina’s 25th anniversary as a Green Angel.

Since the Green Angels began patrolling the roads four decades ago, about 60 of the mechanics have been killed in road accidents, according to tourism officials.

“When our families give us goodbye kisses, they don’t know if we’re going to return,” said Juan Antonio Gomez Rascon, a Green Angel who works out of the Ensenada office. “But we’re doing what we love.”

Gomez said he is always on the job, even when he is across the border in the United States. He remembers going out to eat in San Diego with his wife and daughter and noticing a man outside the restaurant looking under the hood of his car. Gomez helped him find and install a new battery.

The Mexican government started the roadside service in September 1960 to counter negative perceptions about driving in Mexico. The Angeles Verdes, which operate on an annual budget of $13.3 million, provided mechanical assistance to more than 115,000 motorists last year. Many travelers, Americans and Mexicans alike, don’t know about the Green Angels until they need them.

Baja Information, a travel information service based in San Diego, assures tourists that driving in Mexico is no more dangerous than driving in the U.S. But Gina Cord, president of the service, said she advises visitors to avoid traveling at night and to buy insurance. She also tells travelers to look out for the Green Angels. “They’ve been doing marvelous work for years and years,” she said.

Many Americans, however, still fear driving in Mexico and worry about encountering rough roads, bandits and corrupt police officers. Sometimes, American tour groups ask Green Angels to escort them to their destination.

San Diego pediatrician Bronwen Anders was driving home from a small village outside Ensenada late one night after conducting a health clinic. She took a wrong turn and hit a concrete block. By the time she pulled into a gas station, oil was leaking all over the pavement. The gas station attendants couldn’t help her and told her to come back the next day. Though Anders had been working in Mexico for several years, the situation unnerved her.

“It was a little scary and a little lonely,” she said. “It was a stupid time of night to be driving in Mexico. Ten o’clock with a busted car in any city is not good.”

By the time the Green Angel arrived and found someone to fix the car, she said, “I had been there for 12 hours practically weeping.”

The Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) offers its members maps and insurance for driving in Mexico, but doesn’t provide roadside service outside the U.S. “Baja California is a popular destination for lots of Californians, particularly from south California, so anything that makes it safer for Californians to visit Mexico ... is certainly welcomed,” spokesman Paul Gonzales said.

Green Angels are on the road every day of the year and increase their patrols during spring break and holiday weekends. The way the story goes, the green-clad mechanics got their name after a Canadian family whose vehicle had broken down in southern Baja told them they were like angels who had dropped out of the sky to help.

Though there are private tow truck companies and repair shops, tourism officials say there are no private companies like the Green Angels. Their trucks are equipped with basic tools, jumper cables, gasoline and first-aid kits. On the side of the trucks are the words “free service” in English and Spanish. The back reads: Mexico is a country with angels.

The Mexican federal tourism department has bought new trucks and uniforms for Green Angels in recent years, but many mechanics still use outdated and secondhand equipment or buy their own supplies. The Green Angels charge only for gas or spare parts, but accept donations of supplies such as tools and first-aid kits.

“They don’t receive the resources they should receive as guardian angels of the road,” said Arturo Martinez Esquer, head of visitors’ assistance for the state of Baja California. “Sometimes they don’t even have enough gas.”

The mechanics drive on average more than 200 miles a day, patrolling more than 80% of Mexico’s highways. Because many aren’t bilingual, they rely on signs and facial expressions to communicate with English-speaking tourists. When the mechanics spot travelers in need, they rush to the cars and try to identify the problem as quickly as possible. If they can’t solve it, they summon a tow truck or push the car to a gas station.

They also call worried family members and give travelers information about hotels and tourist sites. If the weather is bad, they warn motorists about road conditions and suggest alternate routes. Often, they are also the first ones to arrive at accidents. While they are on the road, Green Angels always wear their uniforms -- crisp white shirts and olive green pants -- which they rarely get smudged. Their hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the angels often work late. Baja’s Green Angels, working varying shifts, help anywhere from four to 10 drivers each day.

“We have a starting time, but we don’t have an ending time,” said Javier Rivera, a former mechanics teacher who works out of the Tijuana office with his two brothers. “It all depends on the highway.”

They have helped deliver babies on the highway, rushed grooms running late to their weddings and carted families to hotels. But their work can also be dangerous. The Green Angels, who are not armed, have been assaulted and had guns pointed at them.

“I don’t stop if it looks bad or if someone is carrying a gun,” said Green Angel Jorge Rivera.

On the Friday morning that Medina was killed, Jennifer and Samuel Chu were on their way home after a weeklong church service trip with 16 high school and college students. One of the group’s two vans broke down, so they jump-started it. About 10 minutes later, the van stopped again. “The cell phone wasn’t working and there was nothing we could do,” said Jennifer Chu.

That’s when Green Angel Rafael Medina showed up in his patrol truck. He recognized the problem as a failed alternator, helped them get the van started and directed them toward the nearest repair shop, a few miles away. Then Medina tried to direct traffic away from the shoulder while everyone piled back into the two vans. A red station wagon sped around the curve and hit Medina, killing him instantly.

Medina’s wife, Guadalupe Elena Morales Aguilar, said she believes her husband died doing what he was meant to do. Being a Green Angel was his “way of life,” she said. The 70-year-old father of six girls had spent 25 years in the Mexican military, but wanted to be buried in his Green Angel uniform.