TRAVEL IN MEXICO by Dean Unger
Safer Than You've Been Led to Believe
16
When the latest official statistics came out in 2010 and 2011, respectively, the general public was shocked to hear that violence in Mexico was rampant, and that among the many casualties, there were numerous Canadian tourists who perished in the face of violence - victims, it was said, of the drug wars and opportunistic petty thieves. A short time after, however, many in-the-know began to exchange side-long glances: it was advocates of travel in Mexico, people who are involved in the travel industry and the many communities in Mexico itself, that began to raise their brows in concern. The stats, they said - or the way they were being interpreted - were not accurate.
Not only were they misinterpreted but were sorrowfully wrong, and the price to be paid for it, was potentially dear.
Some reasoned that it was a problem that was easily fixed, but to their shock and dismay, nothing - neither from Canada, nor the U.S. - has seemingly been done to correct the erroneous information, even after having been diligently notified of the matter. So what’s the problem?
rvsnowbirds.com
Dan Goy, owner of Baja Amigos RV Caravan Tours, says a message on Canada’s Foreign Affairs website seems to reinforce the misinformation as it recommends avoiding “non-essential travel to Sinaloa state, as it is located in a part of Mexico where ‘shootouts, attacks and illegal roadblocks may occur at any time.” Further to this, the site reports that tourists have been injured in drug-related violence there, and that Canadians should be particularly aware of their surroundings as a result.
In his blog, Goy writes that the US State Department issued numerous travel advisories concerning visits to Mexico that focus on specific areas. Unfortunately, with the way that this
...the real numbers indicate travel to Mexico
is considerably safer than risking vehicle traffic in the USA
“ ”
information is being portrayed, many overlook the geographic specificity and get the impression that all parts of Mexico are dangerous.
The real story, says Goy, is that the threat of violence when travelling in Mexico, is much less per-capita, than you would experience travelling in the U.S.
Goy says he met with a Conservative Government MP in order to express his concerns over the seriousness of the misinterpreted stats, to see if there was something that could be done to set the record straight. “My intention was to bring the situation to their doorstep in the event they weren’t privy to the details. “They weren’t very communicative,” says Goy. “At the end of the meeting they handed me some briefing notes regarding their stats on the matter: their stats are out to lunch. The paper reads more like a political document - an election platform - than an accurate statistical device.”
After trying to communicate with the Canadian Government, Goy turned his attention to trying to interpret the information himself, to provide a service to Canadian travelers
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