A Good Reason To Avoid Mexico Until Further Notice

[deicer]

*Warning*

Some pictures are graphic and intense.

http://totallycoolpix.com/2010/10/drug-wars/

[dagger]

I dont agree with your headline. Mexico is a big country. Millions of visitors still enjoy beach vacations there. You just don't visit some parts of the country, just as there are probably areas of Canada I don't recommend visiting at 3 a.m.

Here's a tourism industry story that has a bit of balance.

http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1144844.php?mpnlog=1&m_id=_rmY!T_mT_

[Mitch Cronin]

And if you take into account "Crimes per capita", Mexico is not even in the top 25. but this time both Canada and the USA come out as being worse.

Crimes Per Capita

From that link: "Note: Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence. " ... Worth considering in the current discussion of Mexico don't you think?

...also that data is 10 yrs old.

[Guest alkaid]

Using ten year old data on whether to go to Mexico(especially away from coastal tourist areas) would be very foolish. Ignore the media reports at your own risk. Most murders do appear to be drug related but it would be very easy to get caught in crossfire. And then if there is a crime you have to go to their police who are frequently invilved in crime themselves. When you are scared of the cops, it is a problem.

Mexico City itself has had a high crime rate since well before the latest drug wars. It has been highly dangerous to just jump into a cab. I wouldn't be worried most of the time in the U.S. or Canada doing the same. Once again, should I go to the cops if I have a problem? How about I just go to Arizona or Colorado, some of the safest parts of what was Mexico.

As for the U.S. in comparison. Being from a fairly similar country, I know when to be nervous in the U.S. and when things are probably O.K. just by looking around briefly. So do you most likely. I think the average Canadian would be out of his element in unfamiliar Mexico.

[Guest alkaid]

As you probably didnot note, I concluded that Souther Mexico was likely still safe.

I noted it. I'm sure compared to Mexico City and some of the northern border towns it is relatively "safe". Drinking water not included

[FA@AC]

I noted it. I'm sure compared to Mexico City and some of the northern border towns it is relatively "safe".

Southern Mexico is safe. Most of southern Mexico, in fact, is very safe. Even in Mexico City, as long as you take ordinary precautions and do as the locals do when they ride taxis, you're very unlikely to have a problem.

Cd Juarez (across the border from ELP) is Mexico`s most violent city currently. It should be avoided, but there`s little reason to visit it anyway. Nearly all of the violence there consists of members of drug gangs shooting at members of rival drug gangs, but there have been one or two horrible incidents where innocents were targeted in error or were somehow caught in the crossfire. Reynosa (across from McCallen Tx) has also seen lots of trouble. Tijuana (near SAN) has become fairly violent, too, but has nothing on Juarez. Many tourists still visit Tijuana and the beaches just south of it from SAN.

I visit Mexico often, and while avoiding the places I mentioned above I always feel safe. So, I believe, do the tourists who visit the beach resorts. What concerns me about the country is that the number of danger spots is growing. Monterrey--I`m not sure whether it`s Mexico`s 2nd or 3rd largest city--was perfectly safe a year and a half ago, but has recently seen a lot of violence. Mexico`s government doesn`t seem to know what to do to put the drug cartels out of business. The government insists that it`s winning the war, but it`s hard to take that claim seriously when the violence only worsens.

[Guest alkaid]

What concerns me about the country is that the number of danger spots is growing. Monterrey--I`m not sure whether it`s Mexico`s 2nd or 3rd largest city--was perfectly safe a year and a half ago, but has recently seen a lot of violence. Mexico`s government doesn`t seem to know what to do to put the drug cartels out of business. The government insists that it`s winning the war, but it`s hard to take that claim seriously when the violence only worsens.

I think your concerns are valid. Expect the violence to spread further. Unfortunately that is the way things are in much of Latin America with a few exceptions.

[Spinnaker]

In Mexico, if you have a motor vehicle accident, you go to jail if it causes injury and you sit there until they sort it out. A friend was hit by a motorcycle in Guadalajara last week and Jailed for 72 hours (a mexican prison). His adjuster had to bribe the Police to get him out.

He's a National, raised in Mexico City, married to my wife's best friend. This guy is also a Chiropractor with a successful practice. He's now been 'told' by the better half that they are out of there. So he is closing shop, writing the Canadian exams and immigrating to Canada or the US. (he's already licensed in the US as that is where he went to school).

This guy has two young kids and doesn't find it safe anymore. He was raised in Mexico City! My tune was different until I'd heard this story. You won't see me bidding for any Cancun overnights this winter.

[Guest alkaid]

In Mexico, if you have a motor vehicle accident, you go to jail if it causes injury and you sit there until they sort it out. A friend was hit by a motorcycle in Guadalajara last week and Jailed for 72 hours (a mexican prison). His adjuster had to bribe the Police to get him out.

My tune was different until I'd heard this story. You won't see me bidding for any Cancun overnights this winter.

Not untypical of countries in this area. I know a fellow who went to jail briefly in Mexico after being mugged. A Canadian was in the news this summer after being in a car accident in Cuba. He was detained for several months until they "sorted it out".

[Specs]

Re the last two graphs - Shouldn't the number of homicides committed using guns = the number of dead by shooting?

[Kip Powick]

Re the last two graphs - Shouldn't the number of homicides committed using guns = the number of dead by shooting?

You using a mac ?

I use a PC and when I add it up it works out

[J.O.]

It added up for me and I'm using a Mac.

[Specs]

Got it.

(one of those days I guess)

[Guest alkaid]

So much for those who tried to convince that only the north was dangerous. This is a serious issue and bad advice could kill someone.

My advice, the violence will spead to most of the country. Bets anyone?

"Mexico police commander abducted in Veracruz

Related stories

• Gang shootout kills 14 in Mexico
• Crunching numbers in Mexico's drug conflict

Officials in Mexico say gunmen have kidnapped a police commander in the eastern state of Veracruz.

Raul Espinoza and his bodyguard were abducted while on patrol in the port city of Boca del Rio.

The kidnapping comes just a day after 14 people were killed in a shoot-out between security forces and alleged gang members in the state.

Veracruz had so far been spared much of the drug-related violence other Mexican states have suffered.

Local media report that the kidnappers posed as federal police agents and managed to fool local police, who stopped them twice.

The motive for the kidnapping is unknown, but it follows a stand-off between the security forces and gunmen in the state capital, Xalapa, on Friday.

According to Mexican government figures, more than 34,000 people have died in drug-related violence over the past four years.

But officials say more than half of the murders occurred in three northern states, with some regions of Mexico almost untouched by the violence."

http://www.bbc.co.uk...merica-12200635

[roadbiker]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/17/mexico-alleged-rape-assault.html

No thanks. I'll pay more and go to Hawaii. No way in hell I'd ever take my family to Mexico...

[Homerun]

Did you read the article?

[roadbiker]

Did you read the article?

1) If this Q was directed at me, yes I did, as well as saw it on The National last night.

2) What's your point?

[Doering]

Gotta say guys that we have been to Mexico almost 10 times now and without a single problem, other than Delta Airlines re-directing our checked bags to Chicago a few years back. There is never any sense of something dangerous going to happen at the resorts we have visited. Many of the incidents you hear about have occurred because of bad decisions or choices or actions from those involved. When you get to the bottom of some of these bad news stories there is often some underlying circumstances that has created the situation.

[Doering]

My concern with taking a vacation in Mexico is at the same level I have when being downtown YYC, YVR, YYZ etc and being hit by a bullet not intended for me (stray bullet). In other words, being prudent I will avoid northern Mexico but will keep checking out prices for a vacation in the south.

The majority of our visits have been in the Yucatan and Quitana Roo states including Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel, Cancun and a small little place called Progreso (cruise ship stop).

Puerto Vallarta is up next.

[Airjetmech]

This story was on the National last night.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/923517--canadian-woman-alleges-gang-rape-in-mexico

[Homerun]

My point is the 2 people in the article don't seem very credible. The man admitted to challenging the police (while intoxicated) despite the consequences.

[roadbiker]

My point is the 2 people in the article don't seem very credible. The man admitted to challenging the police (while intoxicated) despite the consequences.

So you think suitable consequences of challenging the cops (non-violently, but verbally, while drunk) is to have your wife/partner gang raped by the constables at the station?

My point is, Mexico is corrupt, and it's a boring place to go for vacation when all you can pretty much do is sit around on a hot overstuffed beach with pasty white overweight North Americans inside a "safe" compound drinking watered down booze.

Not my idea of a fun vacation when you can't feel safe going outside the walls of the resort to explore the place.

I'm not much of a "sit around on the beach" kinda guy. When I go somewhere I like to explore, and know that if I need the cops for some reason, they won't be corrupt.

But, I'm just crazy like that.

(And this is from a guy who grew up in downtown Toronto, so I pretty much have a sense of "safe" vs. "sketchy" when it comes to wandering around places, and how to back out of sketchy situations while not getting mugged/beaten up/arrested etc...)

[Doering]

My point is, Mexico is corrupt, and it's a boring place to go for vacation when all you can pretty much do is sit around on a hot overstuffed beach with pasty white overweight North Americans inside a "safe" compound drinking watered down booze.

I think we know what you mean here, but I'm sure you know that you have oversimplified and generalized in regard to the above.

All the resorts or condos we have stayed at offer a wide range of activities on the beach or on the water. Some of the best diving and snorkeling is located just off the Cozumel coast. When the winds are up, you can't beat surf kayaking. I don't dive, just snorkel, but people come form all over the world to dive at Cozumel. Spending the day on an open air catamaran is not too bad for a change also. There is a lot more to do than sit around.

[Specs]

Puerto Vallarta is up next.

Juat as an aside re PVR from my last trip there

- try the vista Grill with the wife. The food is pretty good but the decor and the the view looking down over the town and bay for a sunset dinner never fails to be memorable.

- ZTai on the waterfront is a pretty decent upscale nightclub on the waterfront you won't soon forget. Best done with a group. Pricey but great fun even if you don't like clubs.

[Airjetmech]

I am headed to a small town out of Cancun at the end of the month and this really does not deter me. I suspect that there is more to this story then is written.