We are NOT saying that tons of Americans are getting murdered. Most of us are being objective and saying the crime rate has increased overall in Mexico and things are happening that were NOT happening 20 years ago.
I do agree with you that Baja area is generally safer than many other parts of Mexico. And I’m not even saying anything bad will happen. Odds are if you aren’t involved in any illegal activities you should be fine. But to try to say crime is the same as 20 years ago I wouldn’t find accurate.
I’m not even one of these guys that say “stay out of Mexico”. Quite the contrary and I’ve been to Mexico many times with my family. But even in touristy and safe areas I went to, I would just go to the beach and go to an upscale bar and I still saw guys with guns tucked into their pants. My wife saw the same thing.
I’m not saying that anything bad happened because it didn’t. But the thing is that in many of these types of places you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time when something happens. Same as the USA.
One thing I’ll say is the Mexican government is VERY conscious about how important tourism is and they are doing all they can to prevent violence from happening with tourists. So that is a huge positive.
Read some of these articles.
Look at entities in the UK like the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issuing warnings like: “The FCO advise against all but essential travel to parts of the country (Mexico).
– 113 Americans killed in Mexico in 2011
– 2012 a RECORD 120 Americans were killed in Mexico.
In 2007 it was only 35 Americans killed.
Now deadzone, I don’t claim to be some financial guru but 120 is more than 35. And “record” means that it’s the MOST ever. So I don’t think your “it’s as safe as 20 years ago” holds too much water.
Particularly important to note, “”Most victims of crime and violence are Mexicans involved in criminal activity, but the security situation also poses risks for foreigners.”
http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/avoid-crime-in-baja.html (Particularly interesting is this part, “Kidnapping, including the kidnapping of non-Mexicans, continues at alarming rates. So-called “express kidnappings,” attempts to get quick cash in exchange for the release of an individual, have occurred in almost all the large cities in Mexico and appear to target the middle class as well as the wealthy. ”
Or maybe this part, “Harassment/Extortion: The U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana receives numerous reports of extortion by supposed police officers in Baja California. Sometimes the perpetrators are actual police officers, and sometimes they are criminals using fake police uniforms and credentials.”
Again, to take note, “The number of kidnappings and disappearances throughout Mexico is of particular concern. Both local and expatriate communities have been victimized. In addition, local police have been implicated in some of these incidents. ”
Also, important, “Baja California (north): Tijuana and Mexicali are major cities/travel destinations in the state of Baja California -see map to identify their exact locations: You should exercise caution in the northern state of Baja California, particularly at night. For the one-year period ending July 2012, the number of murders in Mexicali increased by 43%, from 127 to 181, over the preceding year. The number of murders in the city of Tijuana was 351 for the same period. In the majority of these cases, the killings appeared to be related to narcotics trafficking. Targeted TCO assassinations continue to take place in Baja California. Turf battles between criminal groups resulted in assassinations in areas of Tijuana frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured, have occurred during daylight hours. Twenty-five U.S. citizens were the victims of homicide in the state in the 12-month period ending July 2012.
But then I guess deadzone you will come back and tell us that things are still as safe as the glory days. Right? I can tell you love Mexico and that is great. So do I.
But I kind of equate this kind of thing to a guy that is totally in love with his wife. He is married to her for 30 years and to this guy his wife is as beautiful to him as the day he first met her when she was 20. Now at 50 he finds her more beautiful than ever. Someone shows random strangers the two photos and ask which woman is more beautiful. EVERYONE picks out the younger woman. The old man picks the photo when his wife is older. I look at it kind of like that.
Again, I’m not one of those people that would advise people to not visit Mexico or other countries in Latin or South America. I still say if you aren’t involved in any drugs or illegal activities your chances of being a victim are fairly low, especially if you speak Spanish.
I’ve even been pulled over at a police check point in Brazil and had the police pull me and my friends out of our car on the side of a road and pull out their guns to ask for some money. It was a SCARY experience but it’s not like I stopped going or advised people to stop going there.
Even with all this violence in Mexico the tourism numbers for Americans continue to go up each year which tells you how much Americans love Mexico and rightly so. It’s a wonderful country. But I am not about to say that crime is like it was 20 years ago.
And again, I’d TOTALLY forget about things like murders because that isn’t your biggest risk in Mexico. It’s robberies and as I mentioned, the reported #’s are NO WHERE near accurate.
