Posted on 02/20/2009 6:57:26 PM PST by george76
The U.S. State Department today renewed a travel advisory warning Americans about an increase in violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The alert issued today says violent crime is particularly worrisome along the U.S.-Mexico border, where automatic weapons and grenades have been used in clashes between police and drug traffickers.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
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I didn't know they expired.
Where can US citizens get a hold of automatic weapons and grenades? Must we buy them off of our Southern friends when they come North to work?
I’m just glad that Napolitano has informed us that it HASN’T spread to the U.S. /s
It should be a crime free paradise because...they brought all that crime here to the USA.
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Shun Mexico, UA warns its students
UA officials want students to abandon any spring-break party plans that include Mexico.
A strongly worded statement by the Dean of Students Office cites a U.S. State Department travel advisory in urging students to skip heading south of the border when the weeklong break begins next month.
“Due to these circumstances, the University of Arizona Dean of Students Office strongly advises students to avoid travel to Mexico at this time and during spring break,” the statement reads.
While the U.S. travel alert specifically identifies Nogales and a route to Hermosillo, Sonora’s capital, tourist destination Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, isn’t mentioned.
The Dean of Students Office usually sends out information each spring asking students to be aware of different laws and other issues involved in traveling to foreign countries.
However, this year’s announcement — explicitly calling for students to avoid Mexico because of increased violence — represents a shift as officials seek to discourage students from heading to destinations such as Rocky Point.
“What’s different about this year is the fact that the State Department has a travel warning,” said Carol Thompson, the UA’s dean of students. “We needed to make sure that students were aware of it and help them understand the situation.”
Drug-cartel-fueled violence has reached record levels in the past year in the state of Sonora, and specifically in Nogales. Official government figures show premeditated homicides soared in Nogales to 116 in 2008, up from 52 in 2007 and 35 in 2006. In Sonora, the total rose to 398, up from 307 in 2007 and 328 in 2006.
The killings have increased through the first month of 2009, too. There were seven in Nogales and 33 in Sonora, both figures more than in any previous January in three years.
The violence is attributed to an ongoing battle between drug cartels for the corridor — the most desired piece of real estate along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s campaign to weaken the cartels and snuff out corruption has added fuel to the fire.
The killings landed Nogales on the State Department’s updated Mexico travel alert that came out in October. The alert — which warns travelers about dangerous situations but doesn’t instruct them not to go to Mexico — mentions Nogales alongside notoriously dangerous border cities such as Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo.
It also highlights Route 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo as a road where “criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles.”
The alert does not mention any of the roads or cities on the route to Rocky Point, the most popular destination for spring-break celebrators. Government figures show 10 homicides occurred in 2008 in Rocky Point, the same as the year before.
The UA’s admonition follows a similar move by Fort Huachuca officials in December. The post, Southern Arizona’s largest military installation, restricted troop travel to Mexico and warned military families and civilian employees of the advisory.
At the UA, there was concern among officials and parents that students looking forward to spring break festivities wouldn’t know about the level of violence in Sonora, Thompson said.
“There definitely is not complete awareness of what has changed down there,” she said.
UA officials can’t tell students where to travel during the break, so if students still want to go to Mexico, they can, Thompson said.
But if they do head south, they should know about the advisory and other issues, she said.
“We want students traveling for spring break to do it safely, have fun and know that they need to think carefully about their plans,” Thompson said.
Star reporter Brady McCombs contributed to this story. Contact reporter Aaron Mackey at 807-8012 or at amackey@azstarnet.com.
No doubt purchased in the US using the gunshow loophole.
WOW! Send these thugs to Pakistan to fight the Taliban...
I was about to say there was no money in it, but they could probably take over the heroin trade and...
A friend just got back from the Yucatan. Said it's open war in Cancun. Cabbies aren't allowed to take tourists off the hotel strip into town. Even from the hotel strip several miles from town they couldn't sleep because of all the gunshots coming from town through the night.
Only tourist buses are allowed through the Federale roadblocks on the highway S to Playa del Carmen.
Mexico is in an open civil war, where is the MSM on this?
San Diego State University has also advised its students against going to Mexico. Mexico has its hands full trying to control the warring drug cartels. Let’s hope it doesn’t spread across the border. I have a feeling that the types of people who run the drug gangs don’t care about an international border.
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Interesting. My sister and her husband were in Cancun for a week and a half last month.
I can’t say whether they went into town or not but they really didn’t say anything about hearing gunshots. I’d have thought she would have mentioned it.
But considering that there was a non-stop flow of free booze (liquor, wine, beer) at their resort, both of ‘em were probably three sheets to the wind the whole time they were there.
The Federales took over the local police department, arrested the police chief and 8 officers about that time so things may have quieted down.
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