Comments on: Is traveling to Mexico dangerous?

By: Alicel Driver

Alicel Driver — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:27:00 +0000

I am a U.S. citizen living and working in Mexico City at a human rights organization, and I recently traveled to Ciudad Juárez for my dissertation research. Although I agree with the spirit of the article, that travelers should continue to visit Mexico, I do not agree with how the information has been presented. Official statistics state that 40,000 people have been killed in the “drug war” since President Calderón took office in 2006. The violence is real; it is not an invention of the U.S. media. It is not limited to Tijuana and Juárez. Anyone who travels to Mexico and ventures outside of tourist meccas or resorts will see the daily toll that the violence takes on individuals and communities. To pretend that this violence does not exist or that it is an invention of the U.S. media or that it is similar to violence in U.S. cities is a lie. To pretend that it is limited to only criminals is also a lie. Yes, luckily U.S. citizens are rarely victims of violence (although U.S. murders in Mexico are up 200% this year). Encourage people to travel, but don’t do it by writing a Pollyana version of what is going on.

By: Garland

Garland — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:20:30 +0000

“Lida concludes that the persistent problem with the portrayal of violence in Mexico is one of misinterpretation and lack of contextualization. 710 homicides sounds like a lot… if you’re not considering total population and if you’re comparing that statistic to the statistics of a city with a significantly lower population.”

Hi Julie,

This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why would you compare the murder rate (note: ‘rate’) of one city to another over ten times larger? Why would you compare tiny cities with a huge country like Mexico? It’s completely biased, and meaningless. We could turn that around and say that street in gargantuan Mexico City has a higher murder rate than DC.

Washington has 5 million people Julie, not 500,000. Lida is the one taking the figures out of context, not the people saying Mexico City is more dangerous.

Why have the suburbs been left off the US cities’ numbers? It’s interesting US cities’ murder rates supposedly higher than Mexico City have been attributed to the FBI because the FBI only give out murder rates (and specifically warn against not doing this) for cities including their suburbs.

2004 and 2009 murder rates for US cities, Mexico City and Mexico:

New Orleans, 25.5 per 100,000 (2004) | 21.4 per 100,000 (2009)
Detroit, 10.0 per 100,000 (2004) | 10.1 per 100,000 (2009)
St. Louis, 7.4 per 100,000 (2004 and 2009)
Philadelphia, N/A (2004) | 7.3 per 100,000 (2009)
Las Vegas, 9.3 per 100,000 (2004) | 7.0 per 100,000 (2009)
Washington, 7.9 per 100,000 (2004) | 6.0 per 100,000 (2009)
Atlanta, 8.1 per 100,000 (2004) | 5.9 per 100,000 (2009)
Cleveland, N/A (2004) | 5.8 per 100,000 (2009)
Phoenix, 8.0 per 100,000 (2004) | 5.3 per 100,000 (2009)
Dallas, 7.3 per 100,000 (2004) | 4.8 per 100,000 (2009)
New York, 5.0 per 100,000 (2004) | 4.1 per 100,000 (2009)
Mexico City, 12.4 per 100,000 (2004) | N/A AFAIK (2009)
Mexico, 11.0 per 100,000 (2004) | 15.0 per 100,000 (2009)

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/offense_tabulations/table_06.html

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_06.html

http://www.flacso.cl/getFile.php?file=file_4b4b8765a200c.pdf

http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gadm&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-151&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500

http://www.icesi.org.mx/documentos/estadisticas/estadisticasOfi/denuncias_homicidio_doloso_1997_2009.pdf

Mexico City definition in the first Mexican link consists of Distrito Federal and Mexico state lumped together. Hence the additional gazetteer link for Mexican subdivisions which I calculated the rate from which wasn’t available, only absolute murders were listed (used the 2000 census figures). There may be a different definition for Mexico City in the last link as it’s a different source, which is why I haven’t just tacked those two states together for 2009.

So much for the argument that many US cities have a higher murder rate than Mexico, only the tiny sliver that is New Orleans has a higher rate than the entire national average – yet is still only half that of comparable Tijuana. Mexico City has a higher murder rate than all US cities, again, with the exception of New Orleans. Not that the two are remotely comparable which is why I put New York in, the only US city directly comparable to Mexico City.

By: Sandy Brisbane

Sandy Brisbane — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:38:18 +0000

Queer as it may seem, I think I would be ok with my daughter traveling there (she is 35 now and settled down but traveled a lot in her 20′s). My big. burly son, however, would keep me awake at night. He’s more of a risk taker. He chose instead to go to the Commonwealth Games in India this month.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:22:30 +0000

Thank you for such a great article on Mexico. We live within sight of the border and cross frequently to travel and even just to go for dinner. Mexico is a wonderful country and Mexicans are some of the most gracious people in the world! We are going to San Miguel de Allende and GuanaJuato in two weeks and are planning to drive the length of Baja sometime later this year.
I am sad to see the hardships the lowered peso has brought to the people of Mexico but for outsiders there has never been a more economical time to visit!

By: Alejandra Ruybal

Alejandra Ruybal — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:50:12 +0000

Hi everyone! I just booked my winter travel plans to Los Cabos, Baja California. With the state of the economy, lots of hotels are offering huge discounts for people looking to travel to Mexico. One of my favorite chains, Barcelo (Spain) is offering an incredible deal where anyone can get up to 20% off any reservation. The Barcelo hotel in Cabo is under construction, with an opening date of December 1 – if anyone is thinking about going to Cabo, this promotion really is a great way to save some money. Just go to http://www.thehotelofyourdreams.com and write a review of what kind of hotel room you would like to stay in. Hopefully see some people down Mexico way!

By: Alejandra Ruybal

Alejandra Ruybal — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:50:09 +0000

Excellent article! Mexico has gotten a bad rap lately, and unfortunately most of the fuss is all hype. WIth the Peso down 30% it’s like the entire country is on sale! Now is a great time to go south.

By: KenaSiu

KenaSiu — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:33:13 +0000

This is a great news, because of your note and also because of the comments.
I am Mexican and is good to know that people in the US know how the media manipulates this situation (not to mention others). Mexico is a great country and quite big, saying this, most of its places are safe. They are few cities were the crime is taking place and as mentioned before in one of the comments it is about the same drug dealers and corrupted police officers the ones getting killed, pay back!
Mexico is considered the main problem, but also think about the cartels in Mexico that have to do with cartels in the rest of Latin America and probably some other countries out of the American continent.
A funny thing is that is always mentioned the mafia in Mexico, but the main drug consumers are not Mexicans, are Americans, so why is never mentioned the mafia in US, who receives the drugs, who buys them?. Again… press!
Not all the borders cities in the south border are dangerous, only a few.
Thanks Julie for this excellent post.

By: Dave hensleigh

Dave hensleigh — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Thanks so much…I have been blogging about this on aithenticcoppercanyon on wordpress…I go there every month and the safety issue incountry is a nonissue.

The victims are the good mexican people who are trying to go on with life and are wondering where the norteamericanos are.

By: Ross

Ross — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:11:53 +0000

Great analysis! I agree that if you stay away from the border towns, you’re going to be fine. And the prices are cheaper now as the result! Love it when people’s unwarranted fear make my travel expenses drop

By: Wendy-Escape NY

Wendy-Escape NY — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:53:53 +0000

I just got back a few weeks ago from Mexico and was interested to see what the take was there versus the more shrill U.S. mainstream press. While the drug war is serious, it’s a big country and tourists would be unlikely to go to the effected areas. If there was gang warfare in Los Angeles there would be no point in canceling a trip to San Diego, for example. It’s also a great time to go as the exchange rate is favorable (about 13 pesos to the dollar). I love Mexico and travel there about once a year.