I just returned from a month-long work trip around Mexico and found much of the cities and areas, even touristy one where supposedly a lot of this stuff is happening, relatively safe. I would be walking with friends and during the day because, well, that's just safe traveling. Here's what got me.
I find it ironic that there's plenty of headline about 650 people killed in four years (that's 162.5 a year), I think it's hyped and I think while there's media mention about L.A.'s violence, it's downplayed. They say about Acapulco: " ... the famed resort city has been the scene of vicious fighting among rival drug gangs ..." -- If you think about it, couldn't you use that line for Los Angeles? Actually, you couldn't, L.A.'s homicide is vastly larger than that of Acapulco. If you weren't sure, there was something like 314 homicide killings in 2009, 216 in 2010 and from Jan. 1 to Feb. 13 2011 L.A. has outdid itself with 83 homicides (barely two months and it's half of what Acapulco garners in a whole year). I edited the LAPD magazine for a few years and would always hear about these killings. However, I will say L.A.'s homicide rate has been dropping in the past few years--in 1992 there was a whopping 1,200 homicides.
I just found it strange that L.A., a city with nearly triple the homicides of that of a foreign, beautiful Mexican city like Acapulco, would dedicate so many inches to denounce it. Violence is there and no one can get around it. But let's keep perspective. Besides wasn't L.A. the city where songs like "Murder was the Case," "Eazy-E" and "Straight Outta Compton" originated from? I don't think I ever heard a track like that come out of Acapulco.
Check out the nice shot my friend Adriana took of me while we were driving along Champoton, Arnie Weissmann a great editor in chief I befriended while traveling here wrote up a nice story for Travel Weekly about the experience.
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| Along the Mexican Gulf Coast in Champoton. |
3 comments:
Just because you weren't victimized during your travels doesn't mean everyone will be safe. The facts show differently. Violence in Acapulco has taken place, largely, in the tourist zones. Kidnappings. Murder. Shootings. The city has a population of about 700,000 compared to the much larger Los Angeles. The war in Mexico has taken tens of thousands of lives, created hundreds of thousands of refugees and more than 8,000 orphans. Hundreds of US citizens or residents have been killed as well, while traveling in Mexico during the war. Much of the violence takes place in zones, around the country, where tourists frequent. I love my visits to Acapulco, but I continue to keep those experiences in perspective with the dramatically increased safety risks there. Thanks.
Yes, Mexico's violence has caught the attention of the world bc it's happened in tourist areas. I don't want to negate the deaths and violence that have occurred in that country or any other country. And I don't make the claim that bc I wasn't victimized this means travelers are 100 percent exempt from violence--is there really any country, even the USA, which can make that claim?
I have not heard of hundreds of murdered U.S. citizens being reported anywhere, in fact, of the 30,000 deaths in the past four years, less than 20 were American.
As a member of the media traveling across that country, I'm learning that things are changing bc of President Felipe Calderon's new war against the corruption. As a reporter, I'm always inherently wary of the media's magnifying glass, which tends to grow whenever there's ample chance for high ratings. Like the old saying goes, "If it bleeds, it leads." I wish that if reporting on Mexico was that important (and it is!) there needs to be sides offered about the war besides Mexico is a bad.
This caught my interest on the subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nf79clAKAs
Safe travels out there.
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