Putting Mexico Travel Concerns Into Perspective Richard Kiy - International Community Foundation
go to original December 15, 2012

I am often asked how safe it is to travel to Mexico. Because of my work and family ties to Mexico, many feel that I have a built in bias that clouds my perspective.

For this reason, I was heartened by the recent publication in the Economist Magazine's online edition of an interactive map (below) that compared the relative murder rates in Mexico compared to countries around the world. While there are still several cities and states throughout Mexico where you should avoid unessential travel or where one should exercise caution, it is important to emphasize that there are many Mexicos. So it is important not to generalize.

As a case in point, the State of Baja California Sur, where ICF remains active, has a murder rate of 5.49 per 100,000. So, Baja California Sur is not without violent crime, but it is safer to travel there than to the State of Arizona which had a murder rate of 6.2 per 100,000 or Illinois (5.6), or Georgia (5.6) or Arkansas (5.5). Based on this fact, in the U.S. State Department's most recently updated travel advisory for Mexico, there was no advisory in effect for the State of Baja California Sur which includes travel destinations such as Cabo San Lucas, Todo Santos and La Paz. Other tourist destinations where there are no State Department advisories in effect include: Chiapas, Guanajuato (including San Miguel de Allende), Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and the Riviera Maya region which includes Cancun, Playa de Carmen and Cozumel.

Among the safest places to travel to in Mexico is the State of Yucatan that had a murder rate of 2.2 per 100,000 that is equivalent to Finland (2.0). When comparing Yucatan to other equivalent U.S. states, it is interesting to learn that this Mexican State is not as safe as Maine (2.0) but slightly safer than Idaho (2.3), Wisconsin (2.4) or Washington State (2.4). (REF: FBI.org)

So, before dismissing Mexico as a travel option, it is important to put things in perspective and remind ourselves of the popular refrain: "those who live in glass houses should not cast stones."

Richard Kiy is President & CEO of the International Community Foundation

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