Mexican President Says Mexico Is Safer Than US, But Murder Rate Is 4x Higher

ANALYSIS – In the wake of Republican calls to take stronger U.S. action (including possibly using military force) against the violent drug cartels in Mexico, the country's messianic socialist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is pushing back against U.S. critics of his abysmal security record. (RELATED: Will America Use Military Force Against Violent Drug Cartels in Mexico as Trump Has Warned?)

Despite the recent kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros near the Texas border (and the murder of two of them), the increasingly autocratic AMLO recently asserted that his country is safer than the United States, which is a huge stretch.

“Mexico is safer than the United States,” he told reporters at a news conference. “There's no problem with traveling safely around Mexico.”

He blamed an “anti-Mexico” campaign by conservative U.S. politicians for negative reports about the country's security.

However, as a security and risk advisor who has worked and traveled extensively in Mexico, I can attest that depending on where in the country you are, Mexico can be a very dangerous place.

Tamaulipas, the state where Matamoros is located, is considered one of the most violent places in Mexico. (RELATED: Illegal Migrant Mob Attempts To Storm US Border Checkpoint At El Paso, Texas)

Only two of Mexico's 32 regions do not have some level of U.S. State Department travel risk warning. Six Mexican states are designated “Do Not Travel” due to high threat for crime and kidnapping.

Much of the rest of the country is labeled “Reconsider Travel” or “Reconsider Travel – Contains Areas with Higher Security Risk.”

At 28 persons killed for every 100,000 people, Mexico's murder rate was around four times higher than in the U.S. in 2020, according to data published by the World Bank.

In addition to the earlier kidnappings and murders, U.S. police say two women from Texas, and their Mexican friend, have been missing in Mexico since late February when they drove across the border to sell clothes at a flea market.

These missing women only highlight the high risk of death or disappearance women, in particular, face in Mexico.

As The Guardian reports:

Meanwhile, authorities in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, which has been racked by severe gang violence, said seven women – including a group of six – had been reported missing in the state during the last week.

Separately, an attack by gunmen in a bar in the town of Apaseo El Grande, Guanajuato, on Saturday night has claimed the lives of 10 people, a spokesperson for state prosecutors said. Prosecutors first reported eight dead, but two more people injured in the shooting have since died, the official said.

While there is a large and growing American expatriate community in Mexico, (1.5 million Americans call Mexico home), most are very safe.

Tourist destinations like Cancún, Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City also have a much lower advisory of “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution,” the same as much of Europe. 

Still, more than 500 Americans — and tens of thousands of Mexicans — remain missing in Mexico. (RELATED: Outbreak Of Mexico Cartel Violence Targeting Innocents Raises Worries Of What's To Come)

And now, as a precaution, due to what it sees as the current increased risk, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has urged residents to avoid spring break travel to Mexico, warning that drug cartel violence and other crime pose a significant safety threat, reports NPR.

“We have a duty to inform the public about safety, travel risks and threats,” said the DPS director Friday. “Based on the volatile nature of cartel activity and the violence we are seeing there; we are urging individuals to avoid travel to Mexico at this time.”

Travel to Mexico now at your own peril.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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