U.S. Government Imposes Travel Ban on Employees Planning to Visit Acapulco Rahul Srinivas - Inquisitr
go to original April 16, 2016

Drug and gang-related violence has long been a problem in Mexico, but tourist destinations were generally spared from danger. Not so anymore as Acapulco is becoming known as much for its killings as its coastal resorts. (CCTVAmerica)

The U.S. Government has issued a notification to its employees barring them from traveling to Acapulco, the famous resort city in Mexico. According to ABC News, the decision to issue a travel ban on Acapulco was taken after a steep rise in the number of homicides that have been reported from the city in the past few months. In fact, the increase in the crime rate owing to a number of drug gangs operating from there has made Acapulco one of the world’s deadliest cities in recent years, reports say. The official statement from the government reads as follows.

“U.S. government personnel and their families are prohibited from personal travel to all areas to which it is advised to ‘defer non-essential travel.’ When travel for official purposes is essential, it is conducted with extensive security precautions. U.S. government personnel and their families are allowed to travel for personal reasons to the areas where no advisory is in effect or where the advisory is to exercise caution. While the general public is not forbidden from visiting places categorized under ‘defer non-essential travel,’ U.S. government personnel will not be able to respond quickly to an emergency situation in those areas due to security precautions that must be taken by U.S. government personnel to travel to those areas.”

This is not the first time the U.S. Government has issued travel bans on their employees visiting Mexico. In fact, a ban that covered the entire state of Guerrero — where Acapulco is located — was already active at the time of this new directive. The entire state of Guerrero has been a flashpoint of drug-related violence over the past few months. Before the new travel ban was imposed, U.S. Government employees were allowed to travel to Acapulco as long as they made the journey by air. Going via any land route was a strict no-no.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Government has confirmed that the state resorts of Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo still do not come under the purview of the travel ban. However, even these reports need to be visited by air.

Read the rest at Inquisitr

Related: Guerrero Governor Critical of Latest US Alert, Suggesting Politics Were Behind It (Mexico News Daily)

Related: U.S. Warns Americans Against Travel to Mexico (News Americas)

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