Posted on 08/10/2013 11:44:30 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Mexico City And Washington, D.C., Are About Equally Safe
Mexico’s travel industry has been hurting, as crime waves have swept the country and scared tourists away. But is traveling in Mexico any less safe than traveling in the United States?
It depends on where you go and what you do, of course. But if you compare tourist destinations in both places, you might conclude you’re better off heading to Mexico.
Take Orlando, Florida, home of Disney World. There were 7.5 murders per 100,000 residents there in 2010. Cancun, on the other hand, saw 1.83 murders per 100,000 residents, and Puerto Vallarta 5.9. Lonely Planet has some more relevant statistics:
Looking at the numbers, it might be wise for Texans to ignore their Public Safety department’s advice against Mexico travel. Five per 100,000 Texans were homicide victims in 2010, per the FBI. Houston was worse, with 143 murders, or a rate of 6.8 – over three times the rate for Americans in Mexico.
It’s also important to keep the size of Mexico in mind. Mexico is larger than Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., combined. And the murder rate in Mexico City is about the same as it is in Washington, D.C. Detroit, on the other hand, has a murder rate of nearly three times both capitals.
The point being that Mexico is a huge country, full of complex politics and complicated people. The drug trade in Mexico does kill a lot of people—something like 60,000 since 2006. To put that in context, since 2006, there have been about 200,000 gun deaths in the United States. So yes, Mexico has its share of dangerous spots. But some parts of Mexico are just as unsafe as some parts of the United States, and some parts are safer.
Yep ... and both cities are about equally dangerous, equally corrupt, equally incompetent, etc., etc.
Mexico is improving though, while we are headed down.
I travel to Mexico all the time and feel relatively safe except for one fact. If you are in trouble in the US and you see a police officer you breathe a sigh of relief. In Mexico your trouble just increased a hundred fold.
Thompsons. Proven technology.
“Mexico is improving though....”
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Sure, if you consider The Smithsonian Magazine a valid honest non-partizan news sources. However facts on the ground indicate otherwise. How many of DC’s homicides involve beheading? Or Attorney Generals, chiefs of police, etc.?
And then there’s the little matter of kidnapings.
(Excerpt....google Mexico kidnappings you’ll find multiple sources of this article as well as others.)
Mexico City’s ‘mass kidnapping’ highlights countrywide rise in abductions
On average 130 people per month have been reported kidnapped this year, compared to 40 per month in 2004. Some question if Mexico’s inability to prosecute crimes is fueling the problem.
By Lauren Villagran, Correspondent / June 7, 2013
Mexico City
Kidnapping is the crime that causes the greatest fear in Mexico.
Even a slight uptick in abductions can dramatically alter how safe people say they feel, according to a new study by a Mexico City think tank, CIDAC. And kidnapping is on the rise.
Last month, 12 people disappeared from an after-hours bar just one block from the monuments and skyscrapers of Mexico City’s busy Reforma Avenue. Twelve days have passed with no word of their whereabouts, and the capital’s chief prosecutor has so far declined to name suspects or possible motives.
Adding to Mexicans’ concerns is that the monthly average of reported abductions grew 132 percent between 2006 and 2012, according to México Evalúa, a Mexico City-based think tank. So far this year, reported kidnappings are averaging 130 per month, up from 109 per month last year and a monthly average of fewer than 40 in 2004.
“I think it’s a blunt signal that insecurity continues to be a serious problem in Mexico,” says Edna Jaime, México Evalúa executive director. “The fact that something like this occurs, I think it ought to be an alert that the city is not protected.”
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...and populated by Third World hordes.
” since 2006, there have been about 200,000 gun deaths...”
The actual,comparable, number of firearms homocides is closer to 90,000, but who’s counting anyways?
Old article, I know but I visited Mexico City several times recently and it’s swarmed with federal police and soldiers. So I felt safe in Mexico City. In fact, it’s probably one of the safest places to be and I’ll rather be in Mexico City than let’s say, Baltimore.
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