Spring Break Warning: Mexico 'Unsafe,' 120 US Residents Murdered Last Year
Texas has released a warning against Americans traveling to Mexico over Spring Break for a third consecutive year, suggesting that violence continues to trouble the Latin American country.
Despite Mexican official's insistence that certain resort areas in the country like Cancun and Cabo are safe for American tourists, Texas officials have still cautioned against all parts of Mexico.
"The Mexican government has made great strides battling the cartels, and we commend their continued commitment to making Mexico a safer place to live and visit," Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said. "However, drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat, even in some resort areas."
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The warning is a reflection of the 120 U.S. residents that were reported murdered in Mexico last year. In previous years Texas officials had warned vacationers to stay away from only specific areas in Mexico. This year they have recommended entirely different countries instead. "Many crimes against Americans in Mexico go unpunished," McCraw said.
Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Department, explained to Reuters why other resort locations remained unsafe. "Some bars and nightclubs in resort cities like Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Tijuana can be havens for drug dealers and petty criminals," Vinger said.
Mexican officials appeared openly dissatisfied with the announcement. "This warning is exceptionally aggressive," Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, chief operating officer of the Mexico Tourism Board, expressed to Reuters. "To paint Mexico with such a massively broad brush stroke is simply outrageous."
The country officials explained that the drug issues had little to do with tourism. "Those pockets where this violence is taking place are very well identified," Negrete argued. "This is totally unrelated to tourism. This is not about attacking tourists."
Texas officials however remained firm in their mission to protect American citizens. "The bottom line is, we also have to look at the risk to American citizens, and we believe that risk is real, and the violence in Mexico is widespread and has actually grown from last year," Vinger said. "The nature of the violence is completely unpredictable, and I don't think you can say it is not going to happen in any specific place."
SEE VIDEO OF CBS REPORT ON WARNING VACATIONERS OF THE DANGERS OF SPRING BREAK IN MEXICO
