Texas DPS urges holiday travelers to avoid Mexico

/ hsoi

This just came over the wire from the Texas Department of Public Safety:

Dec. 16, 2010

DPS urges holiday travelers to avoid Mexico

The Texas Department of Public Safety is urging Texans to avoid traveling to Mexico during the holidays.

“Mexican drug cartel-related violence continues in the northern Mexican border cities, and other locations such as Monterrey and Acapulco.  Drug-related or other criminal activity has been documented in popular tourist destinations such as Cancun and Mazatlan. The safety and security of holiday travelers cannot be guaranteed if they venture into Mexico,” said DPS Director Steven C. McCraw.

The rising tide of violence in Mexico is well-documented from a variety of sources. Kidnappings, violence between cartels and battles between cartels and law enforcement authorities have escalated in recent years.

The U.S. State Department website lists travel information related to violence in Mexico. Among the items noted on the website:

  • Kidnapping, including the kidnapping of non-Mexicans, continues at alarming rates.
  • Criminal assaults have occurred on highways throughout Mexico; travelers should exercise caution at all times; avoid traveling at night.
  • Rape and sexual assault continue to be serious problems in Cancun and other resort areas.
  • Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against U. S. citizens, including murders and kidnappings.

“We recognize people safely travel and vacation in Mexico on a daily basis, but the increase in violence is also a reality,” said McCraw. “There are no guarantees that drug-related violence will spare innocent bystanders and that criminals will refrain from attacking tourists.”

Travelers should always check the U.S. State Department website for the most up-to-date information related to security issues in Mexico. (See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html or http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/eacs_MexicoSecurityUpdate.html.)

### (PIO 2010-129)

Read that last quote: “There are no guarantees that drug-related violence with spare innocent bystanders”.

This is all drug-related.

My prior posting was made and queued last night, before I saw this DPS warning. But the point remains. You want all this pain, fear, and suffering to end? The drug war needs to end.

11 thoughts on “Texas DPS urges holiday travelers to avoid Mexico”

  1. How so right you are, my friend.

    Both of our ‘wars’ (drugs/terror) produce the exact opposite result than claimed by those who champion them.

    The historical parallel between the current war on drugs and prohibition of alcohol is so complete as to be impossible to fail to see the connection. The ‘war on drugs’ allows the prison complex to be supremely profitable, allows the government to snoop and seize personal property, and justifies a large budget for DEA and related agencies. It also funnels money into the hands of gangs and similar anti-social elements instead of legitimate providers.

    land of the free? Not that i can tell.

    • Exactly. The “War on Terror” also produces the wrong result… it just creates more fear, more terror, more ugliness.

      But you know… perhaps this is what they want. It’s far more profitable this way, isn’t it?

  2. The war on drugs is turning the border into one of the most violently unstable regions in the entire world. We are still being allowed to do field work along the border by university sanction, for now, but I suspect in the coming months a moratorium on work done within 50 miles of the border. We are now travel restricted as well, I can no longer travel to Mexico and represent UT and have my health insurance/legal benefits/status stay in effect, ditto for places like Venezuela and Somali. I’ll let that sink it for a minute…Mexico is now under the equivalent travel restrictions as places like North Korea and Iran.

    Bad juju. I will be doing some work in about two and a half weeks some 70 miles from the border. We should be in an area that isn’t used by traffickers, because there are no major roads or highways nearby. None the less, one needs to exercise due caution for such places, rest assure we will be.

    -Rob

    • I hope that UT gets proactive and doesn’t wait until something terrible happens before they do something about this.

      Stay safe.

      • Unfortunately, their view of doing something and my view of doing something are pretty different. Their idea is to eliminate our official status as researchers if we travel to our research site. Then strip us of our job benefits if we continue to do our research. Heaven forbid they use their considerable influence and funding to help do something about the problem, or let us protect ourselves without employment repercussions.

        -Rob

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