For Perspective on Violence in Mexico, Read a Blog

If we were in the pre-Internet days–say 1989–most people wouldn’t have access to the U.S. State Department’s latest Travel Alert on Mexico. Instead, everyone would have no choice but to allow the mainstream media to interpret it for them.

After hearing the reports that stated or implied that the violence was spread throughout the country, I’m sure I never would have booked the trip I’m taking in June to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallerta.

Thankfully, this is 2009 and there are other sources of information such as blogs about what’s going on in Mexico.

A Look at Some Statistics. While some of the reports of violence in Mexico are truly shocking, the likelihood of becoming an innocent victim there is very small. On the Cheapest Destination’s blog, Tim Leffel recently noted that about 70 innocent Americans have been killed in Mexico in the past four years.

“So around 70 completely innocent tourists died—out of 58 million visitors over that time period,” he says. Leffel notes that this equates to 1 in 842,857, or 0.0000012 percent. To put this in perspective, he notes that the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 659,779.

But if you stay away from the border cities where the drug cartel crisis is taking place, the odds of being killed are even smaller. Citing the State Department’s list of deaths, Leffel says that only one American tourist was killed in Mexico City over this four-year period.

While Leffel uses statistics to make his point, an expat blogger who lives in Mexico City uses a satirical approach.

Take a Quiz. Want to further decrease your chances of being killed in Mexico? Check out this quiz on the Midwesterner in Mexico blog. The 14-question quiz asks thought-provoking “yes” or “no” questions such as:

• I am employed by a recent drug cartel start-up, and my title is “Business Development Manager, Mexico”;
• I cannot leave the house without my 3 diamond rings, diamond stud earrings, and emerald necklace; and
• I insist on going out drinking by myself, getting loaded, then stumbling around the back alleys of Mexico City singing “You are my sunshine” at the top of my lungs.

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you might want to re-think that trip to Mexico.

Photo by joseloya (Via Creative Commons)