Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
The entry titled "State Department: Beware the border."
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2008 > April > 14 > Entry
State Department: Beware the border
The U.S. State Department just re-issued its travel alert for Mexico, citing continued violence along the border between rival drug cartels. The advisory singled out Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana for their recent spikes in kidnappings and executions and also reported that U.S. citizens have been followed and harassed after crossing into Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo. “The situation in northern Mexico remains very fluid,” the advisory reads. “The location and timing of future armed engagements there cannot be predicted.”
Perhaps the most common question I get from relatives and friends back home is whether it’s safe to visit Mexico. With all the news about warring drug cartels, I fear that the perception of Mexico, especially outside of the border areas, is getting twisted. As the travel advisory notes, the vast majority of U.S. visitors to Mexico have no problems whatsoever and most of the violence is aimed at drug traffickers, cops and (yikes) journalists.
While it is true that kidnappings and robberies do occur, they are largely confined to the shadowy underworld. And beyond the border, the chances that an innocent will somehow get caught in the crossfire diminish greatly. My advice is not to let these advisories dissuade you from taking that trip to Guanajuato or Ixtapa or Oaxaca. While it probably is wise to exercise heavy caution in some of the most affected border towns - as the advisory says, avoid neighborhoods with lots of prostitution and drug dealing - traveling to Mexico with a dose of common sense should keep you in good stead.
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