More than 200 U.S. citizens have been slain in Mexico’s escalating wave of violence since 2004 — an average of nearly one killing a week, according to a Houston Chronicle investigation into the deaths. … in at least 70 cases, U.S. citizens appear to have been killed while in Mexico for innocent reasons: visiting family, taking a vacation, or simply living or working there. … In addition to those killed, as many as 75 Americans, mainly from Texas and California, remain missing in Mexico, based on FBI data.
There have been almost 25,000 murders in Mexico since 2004. Let’s assume that the entire 200 Americans murdered or missing were “innocents” (it’s probably half that number, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt). That’s 0.8% of the total murders over the period. Nothing to celebrate, but confirms my suspicion that the total number of “innocent bystanders” killed in Mexico is a very low percentage of the total. There will always be anecdotes to the contrary.
