As many are aware of by now, the US State Department updated its travel
warning for Mexico
on April 22nd of 2011, broadening it to include several more areas than the
previous warning. While we at Journey Mexico agree that safety is always
the number one priority when it comes to travel in any foreign country, we also
agree with those who feel that the language of the new travel warning is
confusing, vague, and fairly irresponsible.
As Travel Weekly has pointed out in an article from April 28th and
in a newer article from May 5th, the new travel warning cites the entire states
of Nayarit and Jalisco as areas to be avoided instead of focusing specifically
on the troubled pockets of the major cities in these states where crime has
occurred. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (recently
voted by the AARP as the number one place in the world for Americans to retire)
and Punta Mita, Nayarit (arguably Mexico’s hottest new beach region)
have shown no signs of recent danger to tourists and are clearly misrepresented
by the US State Department’s new warning.
Lumping Puerto Vallarta and Punta Mita in
with the dangerous pockets of...Mexico... is hindering
tourism to these areas, costing thousands of jobs for the honest, hard working
people of Mexico
and depriving travelers of what would, undoubtedly, be one of the most
memorable travel experiences of their lives. It’s troubling to see the US State
Department make such careless exaggerations, especially when a closer
examination of the dangerous regions of the US reveals a country littered with
violence and murder. Yet if you asked a member of the US State Department if
travelers should avoid visiting Buffalo, New York because there is violence crime in Queens, New York,
I very much doubt he/she would say yes. It also seems contradictory for the US to paint such an inaccurate portrait of the
safety of Mexico
when so many of the country’s own investors are pouring millions of dollars
into Mexican resorts and hotels as we pointed out in an
article from April.
Editor's note: While this article refers mostly to the coastal areas of Mexico, we in the Lake Chapala area just use common sense as our guide. I have felt no fear here even walking from the village plaza after our saint celebration in July. We left the plaza around 12:15 am and arrived home at 12:30...one senior lady, a lady in her 50s and a boy around 12...we had no fear as we walked home, but because of the hour, were just a little more vigilant.
We also find many posts on this subject on one of the local web forums from people who wouldn't live anywhere else but Lake Chapala. For instance, GRC said "We found this lovely area seven years ago and bought a home six years ago ... waiting for retirement age to get here. Now that we are here full time, we couldn't be happier. Yes, some recent incidents worry us. But, like anywhere, we just think about what we're doing in regards to the time of the evening and our whereabouts. More importantly for our safety is watching the traffic -- walking or driving! In comparison to our friends and family, we feel very safe. We lived for a while in San Diego; my school there was blasted by rival gangs causing my students and me to hit the ground as the windows were shot out. Our home was broken into causing our latch-key 7th grader to fear coming home alone. Our move to New England brought safety from those type of experiences but gave us ice storms, week-long power losses, and other things to liven us our lives. Just recently, Northfield, Vt (where my school is) was hit very hard by the flood. 30 homes were destroyed. Our friends in Texas were close to losing their home in the recent fires. Our west coast family spent 2 days without power. Here, we have chosen to live in a gated community. Our security teams are wonderful. They are friendly and helpful. We love San Antonio and feel very safe walking to the plaza, shopping in the small stores, and eating at some of the best restaurants and taco stands in the area. Driving to Chapala is always a delight. We were there today ... the workers are setting up for all the festivities. Yes, we saw the police on the trucks cruising the areas. For us, it was a feeling of security seeing them. Plus they smiled, waved, and greeted us."
Again, we always encourage travelers to use common sense and exercise
caution when traveling to new areas, but we also encourage those interested in
traveling to Mexico
to do some research into the true state of affairs in this vast country. We are
confident that through accurate reports and through the testimonials of those
who have been here, you will find Mexico to be as (if not more) safe,
affordable, and rewarding as any other major tourist destination in the world.
You can also learn more about the current state of affairs in
the Safety
of Mexico section of our blog.
Source: http://www.journeymexico.com/blog/new-travel-warnin/