Mexico - How dangerous is it really?

[The_Hero_of_Men]

I must admit, I recently read a couple of stories on Yahoo News about Mexico: one of these stories had to do with a gunfight between cartels and the government-- a bullet fired from a criminal's M-16 struck an El Paso woman's leg (but she survived), and a woman from Calgary getting severely beaten up at a 5 star holtel in Mazatlan. A lot of the comments here talk about how dangerous Mexico is and how someone "would not even accept a free, all-expense-paid trip to the best 5-star suite hotel in Mexico". Yes some areas of Mexico ARE dangerous, but I read some of these comments and, I must admit, it sometimes worries me.

[adria2789]

Mexico DOES have dangerous areas, such as the towns near the US-Mexican border. Ciudad Juarez has an average of 10 murders per day! But other than that, isn't as dangerous as the US media depicts it. A Mexican woman in one of my classes last quarter told me the US News exaggerates the violence. Drug cartels started to really get violent when the Mexican Government decided to wage war on them. They are battling each other (other drug cartels) and the Mexican Government. They also tend to travel around Mexico, so sometimes some parts are safe and others aren't. One year she didn't visit her hometown in Durango because the violence was bad but went the year after. Drug cartels usually stay in Northern/Central parts of Mexico, they rarely go south.

My experience in Mexico was overall safe but this was in 1997 when I was 8 years old and chaperoned by my parents. Overall, just avoid the border areas and practice common sense and you should be fine. I'm sure Falcon, colibri, AmericanInMexico and others can fill you in on this.

[The_Hero_of_Men]

Mexico DOES have dangerous areas, such as the towns near the US-Mexican border. Ciudad Juarez has an average of 10 murders per day! But other than that, isn't as dangerous as the US media depicts it. A Mexican woman in one of my classes last quarter told me the US News exaggerates the violence. Drug cartels started to really get violent when the Mexican Government decided to wage war on them. They are battling each other (other drug cartels) and the Mexican Government. They also tend to travel around Mexico, so sometimes some parts are safe and others aren't. One year she didn't visit her hometown in Durango because the violence was bad but went the year after. Drug cartels usually stay in Northern/Central parts of Mexico, they rarely go south.

My experience in Mexico was overall safe but this was in 1997 when I was 8 years old and chaperoned by my parents. Overall, just avoid the border areas and practice common sense and you should be fine. I'm sure Falcon, colibri, AmericanInMexico and others can fill you in on this.

Personally, I would aviod the border areas myself. That is what I always say.

[Falcon]

This certainly never happened in any Mexican city during the past 50 years, and yet Americans are not paranoid about traveling to Los Angeles:

[AmericanInMexico]

I have been to violent areas of Mexico and was once standing nearby when a gunfight broke out in Mazatlan, one of the very cities you mentioned. The way I look at it is that there are areas of the United States where you can easily get killed too, such as downtown Detroit. I used to live in the St Louis area and going to East St Louis (except for the main highway) was something that people just did not do.

Yes, there is violence in Mexico, and you can get killed. I will not stand here and tell you that Mexico is very safe, because it isn't. You must make a decision: are you willing to risk a bit of violence in order to become Happier Abroad? I was, and I am glad I made that decision. Sure, I could have stayed in the United States, but then I would have had to deal constantly with the overly individualistic society and the narcissistic American women.

Put another way, in Mexico I may get killed. In the United States, I constantly felt like I was dying a slow death.

[Falcon]

Indeed, Mexico is not the safest place on the planet. In Michoacan, I've seen narco jeeps with heavily tinted windows and no license plates driving around the highways. Once, not far from where I was staying in a town in Michoacan, a local government office had been bombarded with grenades. There was a taxi ride around Guadalajara where I saw teenage delinquents sniffing glue, and the driver warning me that the entire area is controlled by ruthless street gangs. On the Mexico City metro, you see people walking around with their backpacks turned around on their chests (instead of on their backs) to avoid having it stolen. Then the usual reckless traffic and street hustlers.

However, people in Mexico more or less expect these things to happen - you just gotta listen to some more narcocorridos!

But entire cities burning up like in the LA riots, with mobs lynching innocent bystanders? Mexico's not there yet.

[The_Hero_of_Men]

Indeed, Mexico is not the safest place on the planet. In Michoacan, I've seen narco jeeps with heavily tinted windows and no license plates driving around the highways. Once, not far from where I was staying in a town in Michoacan, a local government office had been bombarded with grenades. There was a taxi ride around Guadalajara where I saw teenage delinquents sniffing glue, and the driver warning me that the entire area is controlled by ruthless street gangs. On the Mexico City metro, you see people walking around with their backpacks turned around on their chests (instead of on their backs) to avoid having it stolen. Then the usual reckless traffic and street hustlers.

However, people in Mexico more or less expect these things to happen - you just gotta listen to some more narcocorridos!

But entire cities burning up like in the LA riots, with mobs lynching innocent bystanders? Mexico's not there yet.

I have been to violent areas of Mexico and was once standing nearby when a gunfight broke out in Mazatlan, one of the very cities you mentioned. The way I look at it is that there are areas of the United States where you can easily get killed too, such as downtown Detroit. I used to live in the St Louis area and going to East St Louis (except for the main highway) was something that people just did not do.

Yes, there is violence in Mexico, and you can get killed. I will not stand here and tell you that Mexico is very safe, because it isn't. You must make a decision: are you willing to risk a bit of violence in order to become Happier Abroad? I was, and I am glad I made that decision. Sure, I could have stayed in the United States, but then I would have had to deal constantly with the overly individualistic society and the narcissistic American women.

Put another way, in Mexico I may get killed. In the United States, I constantly felt like I was dying a slow death.

I understand what you are saying. I understand that living in another country entails some risks, and that by moving abroad, I assume those risks and I accept them.

[Winston]

I heard in a radio broadcast by Dr. William Pierce from 1997 that Mexico is super dangerous and the US media hides it and that thousands of American girls have been gang raped there and robbed after being kidnapped by taxi drivers. And sometimes killed too. Especially if they venture outside of the expensive hotels in Cancun. Is that true? How come falcon never had any trouble in mexico? Is it only white American women that get abducted by taxis?

He also said that the Mexican police don't care and have to be bribed for them to do anything. So if the criminals pay the higher bribe then the Mexican police will protect them rather than the victims. Hence they don't intervene and the robbers and rapists in Mexico can do anything they want to Americans and get away with it scotch free.

If that's true why don't Americans who go to Cancun just bring handguns with them for self defense? Isn't that allowed?

Why can't white people who go to mexico be as badass as Cortez who conquered the whole Aztec empire? Lol

@ladislav and @fschmidt and @MattHanson1990, what do you think?

[Yohan]

Safety in countries worldwide is a difficult question, ranking is not easy.

There is a difference in ranking if an entire COUNTRY is considered as dangerous or if a CITY is rated as dangerous.
It depends also heavily on which criteria are used. For example for foreign tourists...or war-like conflicts...etc.

About most dangerous CITIES worldwide, frequently mentioned in USA are Detroit and Baltimore, in Mexico Tijuana, in Venezuela Caracas, in South Africa Cape Town.

However in listings of the most dangerous countries due to political conflicts - not considering tourism - the result is totally different.
It is Afghanistan, followed by Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq...

About the safest countries, this is also a tricky question, it is a difference if you consider Iceland as safe with its only 360.000 people - or if you consider Japan as safe with 126 million people. Population is 1:370, but not much difference considering the crime index.

[Falcon]

As I've already said many times, the US media grossly exaggerates how dangerous Mexico is. Venezuela, Honduras, and El Salvador are. Mexico is not Venezuela or Afghanistan.

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

As I've already said many times, the US media grossly exaggerates how dangerous Mexico is. Venezuela, Honduras, and El Salvador are. Mexico is not Venezuela or Afghanistan.

I've been to THREE of the FOUR aforementioned here. I heard a nice gunshot at 3am one night I have spent in HN (Honduras)....Vivan catrachos LMAO! Honduras has a rich Amero-Catracho diet...they love heavy food. The curviest of all Central Americans, more so than Panamanian women. It's the only country in Central America that, pre-BOGUS-19, had a BBW/SSBBW strip club in one of its towns/cities. I kid you not. I was able to get several Four Loko there for chump change and got sh!tfaced in no time and I don't even drink a lot but I knew this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

[Falcon]

How would you rank Latinas from curviest to least curviest?

I wonder if Hondureñas are even curvier than Dominicanas.
My belief is that Dominicans and Brazilians are the curviest.
But let's see your list.

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

How would you rank Latinas from curviest to least curviest?

I wonder if Hondureñas are even curvier than Dominicanas.
My belief is that Dominicans and Brazilians are the curviest.
But let's see your list.

BBW/SSBBW Brazilian women from southern Brazil are the curviest Latinas. Least curviest are Chilenas. The rest all fall in btwn.

[Falcon]

But I thought northern Brazil has more African ancestry?

[Winston]

Wow check out this 4K scenic relaxation video of Mexico with aerial views from drones flying above. It looks like a paradise. I didn't know the beaches were so white and the water so clean and bright blue. Is it really like that in person? Wow @MattHanson1990 must be living in paradise. lol