<p>"Spreading drug violence, kidnappings and carjackings in Mexico have led the State Department to increase the number of places it says Americans should avoid for safety reasons for the second time in less than a year.</p>
<p>A travel advisory issued this week urged U.S. citizens to avoid all but essential travel to 14 states in northern and central Mexico, warning that U.S. citizens have fallen victim to drug-cartel related activity including 'homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking and highway robbery.' ...</p>
<p>... 'Gun battles have occurred in broad daylight on streets and in other public venues, such as restaurants and clubs. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area,' the travel advisory said." ...</p>
<p>Parents: Any of your college students heading to Mexico for spring break?</p>
<p>Kids going to Mexico for Spring Break is just more unintended consequences of raising drinking age to 21. We should have rasied age for driving and entering into contracts, and left drinking at 18.</p>
<p>Most college students would be going to Cancun or Cabo for spring break, not some of those places listed by the US department. My 18 year old will be going to Cancun for her high school senior trip.</p>
<p>Even in areas that are not in the trouble zones can be “troublesome”. My neighbor just returned from Cabo San Lucas. He was walking about a mile or so from his condo and was rousted for money by a police officer, saying would he donate to a policeman’s fund or something about a charitable event. He should NOT have drifted very far from the hotel zone, but he did, and it was after dark which made things even worse. He is 6’ 6" tall and weighs about 260 lbs. (not a small guy!) and he said he was scared because he wasn’t sure if it was a real cop or not and if it was and he refused to give him any money, he was worried that he might fabricate something. While he was hesitating, two more motorcycle cops pulled up beside him. I told him that I these were cops and that he was being hustled for money because I’ve seen the cops hustlng money before. Our tour van in Acapulco got pulled over a few years back and the guide got out and gave the cop some money. So, it isn’t just the drug dealers you have to worry about…</p>
<p>The most common Spring Break destinations (Cancun, Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas) are not now and never have been subject of State Department advisories. </p>
<p>Please review the complete State Dept. warning issued Feb. 8, 2012 – [url=<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>404 - Page Not Found]Mexico[/url</a>] – to see how it may or may not apply to your upcoming travel plans.</p>
<p>Cancun and Cozumel are fine, Cabo San Lucas isn’t great according to that link if you are driving because of the areas you would traverse. There are a lot of popular vacation destinations on that list that are included in the travel warning, Acapulco, Ixtapa, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta.</p>
<p>The US travel advisory warnings are pretty much what one can expect from our government. Relatively accurate but mostly unhelpful and almost always misleading. </p>
<p>For instance, the statistics that reflect the number of aggressions on US citizens means very little in the Northern part of the country. A number of the US citizens who have been executed by the “bad people” are far from being innocent. The mention of “three persons associated with the Consulate General were murdered” is particularly deceptive as it is widely known that the murders were the result of the corrupt and criminal activities from the main target who was gunned down fifty yards from the US border. </p>
<p>Despite Juarez having been listed among the most dangerous cities in the world for a couple of years, the dangers are not greater for the occasional tourist than they would be in most cities around the world. Simply stated, there are few innocents in the battle that oppose the organized crime, the corrupt government, and the non-corrupt forces. </p>
<p>As far as cities in Mexico, there is no comparison possible between the cities listed. Is Cabo San Lucas more dangerous than Cancun? Is Cabo San Lucas more dangerous than the Distrito Federal? Only the gullible would think so! There is far more danger behind every corner of Mexico City and Acapulco than in say … Cabo San Lucas. Cancun is only safe in the Zona Hotelera. </p>
<p>The reality is that the biggest danger to Spring Breakers is the one that is self-induced. Using common sense will eliminate most problematic issues. The problem is that common sense and Spring Breakers are rarely used in the same sentences.</p>
<p>Very very sad for Mexico. I agree, it’s not just the drug dealers, the police have been corrupt for years. Mexico is full of wonderful people, has a rich culture and amazing resources, but the corruption and the violence continue to destroy it. This will hit their economy in a serious way–I imagine the cruise lines will be avoiding Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, etc? If they do, this will have a huge negative impact on Mexico’s economy. Very sad indeed.</p>
<p>The same travel advisories could be sent for MANY travel destinations. The reality is that one needs to be careful whenever they are travelling…anywhere, even in the U.S.</p>
<p>My D is supposed to be going on a service trip to Merida, on the Yucatan. The NY Times described Merida as being one of the “safest cities in Mexico.” I can’t help but feel that’s like being the tallest dwarf.</p>
<p>Took a Carnival cruise to MX from Long Beach last year. The itinerary listed Mazatlan, but we were told that they had to forego docking there due to safety concerns. When we docked in Puerto Vallarta, we were warned so much, my family was too scared to get off the ship. Now, they have taken PV off many of the cruise itineraries. I would not cruise to MX on the 1-week itineraries any longer since Los Cabos is the only port left that they dock in.</p>
<p>It really is unfortunate corruption is so pervasive in Mexico’s government (and has been for a long time) and now with the drug situation, thanks in most part to the Americans on this side of the border who purchase illegal drugs without giving even a thought to this collateral damage, it’s driving that country even further downhill.</p>
<p>I wonder how many drug taking college students ever stop to think that they’re supporting the violence in Mexico?</p>
<p>Or just stop taking them - especially knowing that they’re illegal (whether one agrees they s/b or not) and that this violence is a byproduct of it. But how many of the people who take drugs even give it a second thought? How many would consider ceasing taking the drugs until the point in time those drugs are legalized and this net effect due to their actions is no longer a factor in this violence and destruction of a country?</p>
<p>GGD: I agree that Americans who buy illegal drugs should consider the heartbreaking downstream impact. It’s not just a drug “which is better for you than alcohol and should be legal anyway.” It’s the murder of innocent journalists, bystanders and others, and the terrorizing of an entire population.</p>
<p>Oldfort–yes I have traveled to Mexico and have zero desire to return. My previous trips have been plenty and none without incident—not violence but thefts and illness. There are plenty of other warm places to visit in the world.</p>
