He's one of
113 candidates or politicians murdered since last September.
Nieto's homicide total has exceeded his predecessor, now. The following story dates to April 23rd when this apparently seized and dominated their Presidential debates. I'm seeing reports that violence is now at a 20-year high:
Violence in Mexico is still setting records — and the embattled president just reached a grisly milestone
If you adjust that figure for the US population the total would be approximately
268k homicides from December 2012 through March 2018 (5yr3mo period). That's roughly 5x our military combat casualties in Vietnam, 2/3 our combat casualties in WWII, and 3/7 (close to half) our combat casualty estimates for the Civil War-- our deadliest conflict in history.
April wasn't slowing down:
Is Cancun Safe? 14 Killed in Brutal Crime Spree at Mexican Resort Town (in a 36-hour period)
In January our government issued new travel advisory guidelines to us (American citizens) concerning Mexico. You can review these current guidelines here:
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr.../traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html
That last part amounts to the effect that US government employees aren't allowed to travel from the border inland into Mexico, at all, meaningfully, except on this highway during the daytime.
These are the Mexican states with caution advisories. The “
do not travel” notice, considered a “Level 4” alert, is the highest warning level issued for international travel (Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen are all similarly classified as a Level 4 danger).
LEVEL 4: DO NOT TRAVEL
- Colima
- Guerrero
- Michoacán
- Sinaloa
- Tamaulipas
LEVEL 3: RECONSIDER TRAVEL
- Chihuahua
- Coahulla
- Durango
- Estado de Mexico
- Jalisco
- Morelos
- Nayarit
- Nuevo Leon
- San Luis Potosi
- Sonora
- Zacatecas
LEVEL 2: EXERCISE INCREASED CAUTION
- Aguascalientes
- Baja California
- Baja California Sur
- Campeche
- Chiapas
- Guanajuato
- Hidalgo
- Mexico City
- Oaxaca
- Puebla
- Querataro
- Quintana Roo
- Tabasco
- Tiaxcala
- Veracruz
- Yucatan
As you can see, not even their capitol achieves the highest safety rating, and Cancun doesn't appear to any longer be a stable, secure portal into the country. Unsurprisingly, instability is even spreading to the ritzy tourist destinations:
U.S. bans government employees from travel to Mexican beach resort
Here is an extensive 2018 report on their drug violence situation:
https://justiceinmexico.org/2018-drug-violence-mexico-report/
Despite all of this, they still aren't leading south of the border in this hemisphere:
Mexico had over 29,000 murders in 2017, but homicide rate still lower than some Latin American nations
I was surprised to learn how many of my friends (and acquaintances) have visited Playa del Carmen at a pool party last summer. It seemed like everyone has been there. Many more than once. FYI, it's in the Quintana Roo state, with the Level 2 rating, but you've probably caught wind of the reports of illegal tequila and other nefarious activities creeping deeper and deeper into the spiritually gated heart of that tourist jewel.
I tell them all the same thing, now. Don't go back. Don't go to Mexico.