Tulum Taxi Drivers Attack Fellow Union Member They Mistook for an Uber Driver

Tulum, Quintana Roo — A group of taxi drivers in Tulum attacked one of their own union colleagues after mistaking him for a driver working for Uber, according to a video the victim posted on social media.

The man, identified in local media reports as José Ramírez, 52, is a member of the Tiburones del Caribe taxi union. In the footage, he holds his fellow union members responsible for anything that happens to him.

“What’s going on, are you going to hit me? I don’t treat you like that, man,” the driver says to the men surrounding him. One of them replies: “It’s the third time. It’s the third time.”

The video shows the driver being struck and his colleagues trying to pull open the door of his vehicle as he drives along.

Reports differ on when and where the incident took place. Some accounts place it on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 26, near the southern entrance to Tulum’s Parque del Jaguar; others say it happened on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Driver says he had a regular fare, not an app booking

Later in the recording, the driver tries to explain to his colleagues that he had picked up a passenger whose girlfriend also belongs to the union, and tells them he will file a complaint over the assault.

“No, man, I’m reporting you right now. You hit me. I never thought you’d be like that,” he says. “I picked up a passenger and he told me, ‘I’m going to get my girlfriend, will you wait for me?’ I have never used the app to pick up a fare, man, so why would I pay for the ride? I picked up a passenger, a man, and he picked up his girlfriend himself and I left. Now I’m going to report you.”

The confrontation echoes a pattern seen in Cancún, where taxi drivers have repeatedly threatened and at times attacked drivers working for Uber, DiDi and other ride-hailing platforms. In Tulum, the tension has escalated since Uber began operating in the destination.

The tactics described in the video add a new twist: union members in Quintana Roo have themselves started offering rides through the apps, which appears to be what the driver in Tulum was doing.

Municipal authorities, the state Mobility Department, the union and law enforcement agencies have not commented on the incident. It is not yet known whether the driver will take his complaint to the Quintana Roo State Prosecutor’s Office.