Any entity that can take on the local and federal authorities for power is a threat the their ultimate control. That’s what a civil war is. I dont care what label you’d like to put on it. 6 or 7 thousand people being killed in violent conflict is a major standard of calculation for civil wars within a given country. It’s armed conflict for control of something within the country. I would not call this safe, nor a place I’d like to live in. I spent many months in different parts of Mexico. Great natural beauty, but horribly mismanaged.