In a previous life, I used to enjoy vacationing in Mexico.  Places like Mexico City (it wasn’t the hotbed of kidnapping back then that it is today, or was it?), Acapulco (3 Mexican Police Officers Killed, 1 Decapitated Near Acapulco), Puerto Vallarta (although I remember being there in 1973 and seeing machinegun-armed military types patrolling the beaches early in the morning - I believe, today it is quite nice, Puerto Vallarta Hosts Bikini Week) and Cancun (you can read about the drug wars being waged in places like Cancun by following this link to the Stratfor article, Mexico’s Cartel Wars: The Threat Beyond the US Border - as usual, the Google link will bring you to the actual article.)

Today I live within a few hours drive of Northern Mexico…perhaps a five hour drive to Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, but my most likely crossing would be in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo (and I’ve covered enough of that here over the months).

Too harsh about travel to Mexico?  I don’t think so.  I maintain that social and economic pressures are continuing to create "stress" in the southern states of Mexico…Chiapas and now Oaxaca.  The recent uprisings in the south in Oaxaca underscore this I believe.

Dane Schiller: American’s death prompts U.S. to extend warning regarding Oaxaca travel
Hours after an American was shot and killed in Oaxaca, the U.S. government announced it would extend its warning to U.S. citizens to strongly consider the potential for violence there before deciding to visit the region…[more]

State Department Alert

September 15, 2006 Announcement

This Public Announcement alerts U.S. citizens to the rising level of brutal violence in areas of Mexico.  This violence has occurred throughout Mexico, but has been particularly persistent in the city of Nuevo Laredo within the state of Tamaulipas.  This Public Announcement expires on March 15, 2007.                              

U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Mexico should exercise extreme caution when in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times.  Public sources suggest that narcotics-related violence has claimed 1,500 lives in Mexico this year.  In recent months there have been execution-style murders of Mexican and U.S. citizens in Tamaulipas (particularly Nuevo Laredo), Michoacan, Baja California, Guerrero, and other states…[more]

Mexico sends troops to violent Oaxaca
President Vicente Fox announced Saturday he was sending federal police into the violence-wracked southern state capital of Oaxaca after a U.S. journalist and two Mexican men were shot to death. The clashes occurred Friday as leftist protesters barricaded streets as part of a five-month-old campaign to oust the governor.

The president earlier had refused to send such forces to the city, insisting that the dispute should be resolve through negotiations. The conflict has been one of the biggest challenges for Fox, whose six-year term ends Dec 1…[more]

N.Y. journo slain in Mex is mourned
Friends and colleagues of a New York journalist killed in Mexico remembered him yesterday as a longtime advocate for social causes who gave his life to report on the injustices he found.

Bradley Will, 36, of the East Village, was shot in the chest Friday during a gun battle at a street barricade in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca, where strikers have for months called for the regional governor to resign.

"He was a real true believer, and a very courageous person," said New York friend Brenda Coultas. "He knew the risks, but he really believed that he had to tell this story." [more]

With Beheadings and Attacks, Drug Gangs Terrorize Mexico
Alternate link to the above article

Fox’s office issued a declaration saying that the federal forces would concentrate in Oaxaca on Saturday. His office later clarified that he was referring to federal police, not troops, but did not specify how many were being sent.

Even if it wasn’t just to protest Mexico’s continuing policies that seem to encourage illegal border crossings, I simply wouldn’t vacation in Mexico.  Why should I spend my hard earned money there?  And risk my life at the same time.  Atleast not until the Mexican government gets its act together.

No gracias!

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