Safety in Mexico - Whats your opinion?

Hi Lindy,

I hope you get some responses real soon from students studying in Mexico and experiencing this problem.

May I suggest that you consider submitting your blog as an Expat in Mexico (Add Blog)? As expats can always do with some useful tips from those already there

Take care,
Haf

The actual crime statistics place Mexico as a whole only a few percentage points worse than the United States as a whole.  In Mexico, as in the USA, the potential for encountering criminal activity varies with where you are and what time of day you are there.
It is important to note that almost every murder or other act of violence in Mexico now gets sensational coverage in the press here in the states, the same attention is not given to the acts of violence within our own country.  So the media coverage distorts our perception.  It's not some sort of conspiracy.....but sensationalism sells papers and papers need readers so they can sell advertisements.  It's all about the money.  In the USA, news is arguably an entertainment business.  Well, it tends to be so in most countries.....

I have been to Mexico perhaps a dozen times in the past 15 years and my most recent trip was last May.  I took the bus from Houston all the way to Queretaro in the central highlands. I have driven on my own as far as Chiapas.  I now favor public transport, as car thefts on the highways have increased a bit and the buses are great and very affordable.

I live in Zacatecas, Zac.  There has been only one incident of drug violence that made the news.  That was only recently.  The very few expats who live here are not frightened and no one is panicking to leave.

I feel safer here than I did when I lived in Las Vegas or Raleigh.

I would advise people to take the normal precautions when traveling in foreign countries and they'll be as safe as anywhere else in the world.

I am retired and have been living in the Lake Chapala area for 5 years. There has been some serious violence down here but I only know that by the news reports. I think Mexico is not all that much more dangerous than any place else you might visit in this hemisphere save Canada or the US. Until this past year the violence had been confined to the border area, particularly the Texas border, but now there have been incidents in the interior, including the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara. As far as I know, there have been no incidents in the more attractive colonial cities such as Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Saltillo. Most of the bodies found appear to be those of people engaged in the struggle--that is, cartel members--and Central Americans passing (illegally) through the country.

As always, travelers should be aware of their surroundings, take care with their possessions, and avoid certain situations (don't try to buy any drugs, for example) and they should have a very pleasant trip. Mexico is a beautiful and varied place.

I Echo gudgrief........Go, enjoy.......what a country!!!!