The advice to gringos planning to travel to places like Colombia or Mexico City is always the same: try not to stand out. Don’t walk around with a big camera dangling from your neck. Refrain from wearing expensive jewelery. Try not to appear as though you’re lost. All of these admonitions make sense, and I [...]
Posts Tagged ‘safety’
U.S. Ignores Root Cause of Mexico’s Drug-Cartel Crisis
Lost in the din of the saturation coverage of the Swine Flu scare, was the news that Mexico’s senate approved legislation that would legalize possession of small amounts of narcotics such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. The measure, which was proposed by the country’s conservative-leaning president Felipe Calderon, seems to have stalled in the lower [...]
Mexico Stands Out in 2008 Shark Attack Statistics
Half of all fatalities resulting from unprovoked shark attacks in 2008 occurred in Mexico, the International Shark Attack File reported earlier this year. The organization defines an “unprovoked attack” as one in which a shark in its natural habitat attacks a live human without provocation. Worldwide there was a total of 118 incidents involving sharks [...]
George Will Dismisses Mexico Failed-State Theory
I usually disagree with conservative pundit George Will. But today was an exception. In a dispatch from a heavily reported prosecution of a gun shop owner in Phoenix, Will provides a cogent synopses of the central issues surrounding Mexico’s drug cartel crisis. The gun shop owner is on trial for selling at least 650 weapons, [...]
Frommer’s: Peso Plunging, Most Tourist Areas Safe
In the wake of blanket news coverage of the drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, Arthur Frommer offered reassuring words to those heading to traditional tourist spots such as Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. The cost of vacationing in Mexico has sharply dropped because of the declining value of the peso, and many U.S. tourists are [...]
Blogs Offer Counterpoint to Press Coverage of Mexico
Joy, the blogger for El Blog de Joy is traveling from Mexico City to Tulum, a beautiful seaside town about two hours south of Cancun; the woman behind the blog Canuck in Cancun is having mixed results with her son’s solar system project for preschool; and the mom who writes the Moving Kids to Mexico [...]
Mixed Messages on Severity of Violence in Mexico
Mexico’s federal attorney general said yesterday that more than 1,000 people have been killed in drug violence so far this year, according to the Associated Press. The two-month tally is keeping pace with last year, which saw 6,290 people die in drug related killings, the attorney general noted. These statistics along with some sensational [...]
Mexico Sees More Tourists, Despite Uptick in Violence
Violence in Mexico has increased recently, the U.S. State Department advised in a Travel Alert on Friday. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Last year, the number of murders in Mexico doubled from the previous year. In December, the country closed out a year that also saw an increase [...]
Trip Planning, Gas, and Cops in Mexico
By Mexico Mike This is the third in a series of guest posts by Mexico Mike about driving, insurance and documentation requirements in Mexico. During his tenure with Sanborn’s Mexico Insurance Service, Mike acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of Mexico’s highways. His familiarity with nation’s roadways and unique perspective on why he believes the country is [...]
Tips on Navigating Mexico’s Roadways
By Mexico Mike This is the second in a series of guest posts by Mexico Mike about driving, insurance and documentation requirements in Mexico. During his tenure with Sanborn’s Mexico Insurance Service, Mike acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of Mexico’s highways. His familiarity with nation’s roadways and unique perspective on why he believes the country is [...]
