State Department issues Mexico travel warning
The State Department has issued a new travel warning for Mexico, warning U.S. to avoid unnecessary travel south of the border in most but not all Mexican states, particularly at night.
The new caution, which supersedes one posted in February, notes that tourism and resort destinations don’t get the drug-related crime and violence that is evident along the border and in prime trafficking routes. However, drug traffickers (also known as Transnational Criminal Organizations, or TCOs) and the government there have been in a years-long struggle, and competing cartels also have created crime and violence absent the government. It calls crime and violence “serious problems” that can happen anywhere in Mexico.
“U.S. citizens have fallen victim to TCO activity, including homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking and highway robbery,” the warning said.
Mexican government statistics published late last year show that 47,515 people were killed in narcotics-related violence from December 2006 through September, 2011, with 12,903 narcotics-related homicides in the first nine months of 2011 alone.
In 2011, 113 Americans were reported murdered under all circumstances last year, with 32 reported in the first half of 2012.
The State Department encourages visitors to stay on main roads, particularly toll roads or “cuotas,” and to cooperate at all checkpoints, legitimate or otherwise.
Parts of Mexico, particularly the resort and tourism destinations, are considered safer. Click here for the full travel document, which lists warnings state by state, with even more detail for areas such as the Federal District.
Follow Us
