Another gruesome killing in Mexico of CDN's in a resort town

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2294714/

Mexico says robbery motive but feels like Cartel killing.

I know myself planning a holiday Mexico was always a popular choice but now I choose the Caribbean over it. I just don't feel safe anymore.

I realize these are isolated incidents but they seem to be happening more and more

Simply depends upon WHERE you are planning on vacationing. To generalize Northern Mexico / USA boarder areas not safe, southern Mexico much safer, though their have been problems in Acapulco, but why someone would choose to go their is beyond me anyway...

Vast majority of people spend their vacation at the pool of their all inclusive resort and the only mexicans they will see is the waiters and reception staff. A few will wonder outside a few blocks to the town square or whatever. It is most certainly perfectly safe for them.

They call it 'drug related violence' because most people that get tangled up have it coming.

But...

There is increasing tourist crime and hassle in Mexico and it is not just border areas. Robberies and corruption seem to be increasing. My three friends rode their motorcycles through Mexico down to S. America recently. Mexico is the only place they had trouble with the cops hitting them hard with imaginery fines and threatening jail for imaginery crimes. And two of these guys are big ass mofos who look like mexican badass linebackers themselves and they speak Spanish fluently - not your usual 'weak targets'. They still ended up paying a few hundred in bribes for crimes and infractions they never comitted. These sorts of stories make me worry...

In wiki leaks, the internal analysis puts two countries as having the potential to discinigrate very quickly and with minimal warning: Pakistan and Mexico.

www.mexicovacationawareness.com

Nolan Webster was a friend of mine. Simply disgusting. I will never give them another penny.

Elaborate? Whose internal analysis?

Media sources filter news so you don't get the whole story. I feel safer here than I did back home. I've logged a lot of miles walking places where I'm the only white guy and the only concerns I've had have been encounters with stray dogs. Your mileage may vary, but I researched Mexico really well before moving and the consensus is you're usually only in danger if you're getting involved with drugs.

I live in Honduras and it's the same way. The news reports and State Department make it sound like it is a warzone here, but the story on the ground is different (at least for gringos). I think the same applies to Mexico also, assuming you are not in Tijuana or a city that has major problems with drug violence that are mostly clustered around the border with the U.S. Use common sense about where you choose to visit and what you do while you are there. Don't get involved with drugs. Unless you are very unlucky I think you would be fine traveling to Mexico. You'll see some ****ed up things while you are there maybe, but you won't be putting yourself at risk simply by traveling there.

I've heard all this, and it conforms to my experience so far in Mexico, but when someone mentions "internal analysis" that puts Mexico on the same level of instability as Pakistan, I think it's worth evaluating that that information might trump what we experience on the ground.

Where were you living that you felt less safe than you do now? Honestly that statement sounds somewhat ridiculous (and I feel plenty safe in Mexico, but not nearly as relaxed as in the US).

FWIW, I don't intend to leave Baja Norte anytime soon, but I intend to remain vigilant.

Tempe, Arizona. Lots of homeless people, drug addicts, gang activity,etc. plus it was more dangerous statistically speaking.

I'm always going to have my guard up, just like back home. But as a whole Mexico is a lot safer than most Americans are led to believe.

In my experience, it's the polar opposite of the bolded.

Has anyone read any of the horror stories in the link I posted?

From New York Times story:

I assume Mexico's proximity/U.S. interests there (and Pakistan's nuclear weapons, etc.) are why those two countries are listed as the biggest threats? I.e., weak central government + huge U.S. interests there.

If it's just a measure of places likely to destabilize, there could be dozens of other countries at the top of the list.

yea, it is just people drowning.

Not really. When I lived in Mexico it felt dangerous as f*ck, it was right around when things started to get bad in 2008. Needless to say we left. While we were there there had been killings near where we lived. I remember one random night when I was still oblivious to the danger, I was just walking while out one night with my gf and some friends and a military siege tank went riding by on the road. First time I'd ever seen that and was a wake up call. Shortly after leaving my ex-gf told me of various killings in the very places where we had been going out. I'm not talking about dangerous places, I'm talking about starbucks. A diff gf I had while there had her brother kidnapped for ransom -- her family paid the money and they killed him anyway. So yes, given the killings and the casual military tanks brisking the streets, it's safe to say it felt like a warzone.

Mexico was ruled by one party for the past 80 years and things were stable. Drug smugglers paid off the right people and the government let them operate with the understanding that there will be minimal violence.

But now Mexico has many political powers and they are fighting drug smugglers and drug smugglers are fighting each other. There are conflicts within the government and the criminals have a lot of high tech weaponry. You read stories about them using submarines and having their own personal cell phone networks, etc. What could happen is that Mexico becomes Colombia of the 80s where a powerful insurgency group takes on the government fighting a gorilla war. There are already regions in Mexico where the police won't go and military is afraid to enter also.