Looking to cross the border in early October

tplife wrote:
"Nearly 3,200 people have been killed in drug-related violence during the first three months of President Enrique Pena Nieto's government, according to Mexican government data." You can live in fantasyland and denialville and that's your business. As I said, I live ON the border, my crewbuddys lost everything in their caravan and will never go back, my daughter's friend went down to party three years ago and has never been seen alive, many thousands have died (many were innocent victims), including in tourists areas like Cancun, Acupulco and others. Anybody with an internet connection can review the incidents and statistics. If you think it's all made up and phony, good for you. Like Israel or some other hotspots, without armed security and an adults-only caravan, we wouldn't ever go. God willing the day will come when it will be safe again, as it was one of our favorite driving vacations and so close by. When you've had to ration you electric due to sabotage, heard the bombs going off as the shrapnel went into the kids legs as they got off the bus, knew families were being slaughtered for asking for more for their crop, etc. you'll understand a little better how narcotraficantes operate. We now have warning signs along the southern border posted by the US gov't, and many booby-trapped areas within our own national forests, including the large one close to us. "It won't happen to us", we all have said that. I cannot say that, and I offer my opinion and warning to you as a border resident.

I did not initiate this thread to have anonymous people issue dire warnings about travelling or living in Mexico. Thanks for your concern for our safety, but as you can see, those of us who have actually traveled there in recent years or who currently liver there, KNOW what is actually going on in Mexico. Knowing that random acts of violence can happen anywhere, I must say that I feel much safer in Mexico than in almost any city in the USA. The VAST majority (and I mean 99.999% of violent crimes) are between the drug cartels and/or military/police. Do innocent victims get caught in the crossfire once in a while? Yes, but NOWHERE near the random violence in the US. There are crimes of passion/ domestic murders in Mexico, just as in the US. If you go looking for shady characters or hang out in shady places, your chances of being a victim of a crime are greatly increased. My theory of why the cartels are not interested in harming tourists, particularly American tourists: WE (Americans) are the source of their millions of dollars of profit. And, why does the US government discourage travel in Mexico? The want our dollars to stay here. y

So, hunker down on the border if you choose. I will enjoy my adventure in Mexico and the wonderful people who live there.