Things changing for the better
Way back in 2005 and 2006 my wife and I traveled to just about every place in Mexico that one would want to go and reported on it here in what I am told was the longest thread ever at this board with ...
Forum Discussion
So again the difference between Detroit and Mexico? In Detroit just about anyone can be killed. In Mexico it is mostly cartel members killing cartel members and rarely involves civilians. I personally have not experienced any of the horrors reported. I have heard of no RVers and very few tourist killed in Mexico - or exposed to many other crimes - other than petty theft. Crime happens everywhere. Cartel members may live in lots of areas but if they do not do business at home and do not advertise their presence then few know they are there. We hear people say there are cartel members almost everywhere - just as there are criminals of various types (organized crime or individual) everywhere - and there well may be. But we do not experience any of it nor do the people in places we visit. Again, we do not go to the known cartel drug route war zone areas such as those previously mention. I am not trying to defend or pretend anything - I am telling of my personal experience in Mexico over many years and many miles in many areas.
I think people in the USA fear Mexico because of US yellow journalism. They will say anything to get a headline. Most in the US know little of Mexico. We never heard much about Mexico in our learning experience in US schools. Had no idea about pyramids or huge cathedrals or silver mines or many of the other interesting things about Mexico. People now know about resorts and beaches (and cartels) but not much about the rest of Mexico.
I posted on this forum a report from the US Dept of Justice detailing car-jacking in the US - car jacking defined as taking a passenger car from its occupants by force - 70% of the time a gun was used - numbers of deaths - etc. Not reported on US news while one car-jacking in Mexico will be reported the fact of 38,000 car-jackings in the US per year goes unreported by the press. So what is it that US citizens fear? Whatever the yellow press leads them to fear. Every year we spend months in Mexico and meet a great many Canadians and very few from the US. Canadians find the fear in the US to be somewhat amusing. I find it quite sad.
It has been my understanding that there are very few drug users in Mexico - compared with the US. Mexico is not the market the cartels cater to - they supply the great need in the US. So seeing an addict on a corner in Mexico would be a rarity while in the US it is commonplace. Not saying there are no drug users in Mexico. The US is the marketplace every drug producer in the world hopes to find a way into. That is what the business is about.
I think people in the USA fear Mexico because of US yellow journalism. They will say anything to get a headline. Most in the US know little of Mexico. We never heard much about Mexico in our learning experience in US schools. Had no idea about pyramids or huge cathedrals or silver mines or many of the other interesting things about Mexico. People now know about resorts and beaches (and cartels) but not much about the rest of Mexico.
I posted on this forum a report from the US Dept of Justice detailing car-jacking in the US - car jacking defined as taking a passenger car from its occupants by force - 70% of the time a gun was used - numbers of deaths - etc. Not reported on US news while one car-jacking in Mexico will be reported the fact of 38,000 car-jackings in the US per year goes unreported by the press. So what is it that US citizens fear? Whatever the yellow press leads them to fear. Every year we spend months in Mexico and meet a great many Canadians and very few from the US. Canadians find the fear in the US to be somewhat amusing. I find it quite sad.
It has been my understanding that there are very few drug users in Mexico - compared with the US. Mexico is not the market the cartels cater to - they supply the great need in the US. So seeing an addict on a corner in Mexico would be a rarity while in the US it is commonplace. Not saying there are no drug users in Mexico. The US is the marketplace every drug producer in the world hopes to find a way into. That is what the business is about.
