All About Traveling in The World

Safe Travel in Mexico

When talking to people about going to Tijuana for dental work, more and more the question arises, “Is it really safe to go to Mexico?” My answer is always YES! I feel quite at home in Tijuana, but like anywhere, you have to use common sense while traveling in Mexico.

I can understand the apprehension that some people have as they contemplate going into another country, where everything is strange and unknown. Then when you hear bad things on the news, it can make it even more frightening. While the decision of whether or not to cross South of the border into Tijuana is the responsibility of each individual, I would like to answer a few questions to try to put things into perspective, as well as give a few tips on how to travel more safely in Mexico, or any foreign country, or even into any Metropolitan down town area of the USA.

Click here to see a youtube testimony about safety in Tijuana

To answer the question, “Is it dangerous in Mexico?” Not if you use common sense! The folks at Sam Dental Tijuana were very helpful to me. Here is what I have learned from them, and after several trips, I can say that yes, I feel safe!

 Don’t be fearful when you hear negative reports on the news. Keep in perspective that the news agencies look for any incident that will grab headlines. The problem is that news reports often give an exaggerated view and can distort reality. Not to dismiss out of hand the reports one hears, because we always need to be careful and vigilant, but the truth is there are a lot of incidents that happen everyday in certain parts of every large US city that never gets reported because they are so common. Everyday in San Diego and Los Angeles, or New York, or Miami, or Denver, or Dallas, or in Washington D.C., it is common for someone to get mugged or robbed, or found dumped in an alley, so common that it doesn’t grab the attention of the news hounds anymore. So what I am trying to say is that yes, you need to be careful while traveling in Mexico, or Tijuana, but also you need to be careful walking in downtown L.A., or San Diego. Don’t let rumors or news reports, that are attempting to grab headlines by focusing attention on bad things, exaggerate the dangers and frighten you. Just be cautious, and you’ll be alright. Remember, literally 100’s of thousands of people cross over into Tijuana from the USA every month without incident.

I have traveled into Mexico dozens and dozens of times. I have been very often to Tijuana, Juarez, Reynosa, and other border towns. I have also been in many Latin American countries, and have lived for several years in South America. I have NEVER had an incident where I felt in danger. However, I used to live in Denver working for the cable company, and have been threatened with bodily injury and have felt very intimidated on several occasions. I even had to call the police in order to complete my work in someone’s back yard because they had threatened to shoot me when I went to shut their cable off!! I feel safer in Mexico, than in certain areas of Denver. And what is Denver compared to L.A.? Or Washington D.C., or Miami?

Tips for Safe Travel.

1. Be discrete. Never flash a lot of money. Keep the majority of your cash hidden in a front pocket that you can zip or button down. Just keep a limited amount of cash in your wallet. Also keep your passport, drivers license, and credit card hidden in another front pocket. It would be good to keep those documents together with a rubber band or a money clip. Also, don’t bring all your credit cards with you, just bring one or two, that way if you loose it, you will know which one to report lost.

2. Walk over and take a Taxi rather than drive over. Unless you are planning to stay for several days, and would like to site see, it takes a lot of stress off to not to have to keep an eye on your car, or to have to maneuver in Mexico traffic. I always hate been stuck in the long line to cross back into the USA. It is liberating to just leave the car parked in the USA and let a taxi take you to your dental appointment. If you do drive over, NEVER leave valuables, like your camera or purse, in plain site in the car seat. If you do, you might be inviting a break in. That is not just true in Mexico! Also, if you drive in, make sure you keep your vehicle locked, and ALWAYS put a manual locking device, like the “Club”, on your steering wheel. At Sam Dental in Tijuana, they have off street parking that is secure, but it is still a good idea to use a locking device.

3. Keep your night life to a minimum If you are concerned about safety, remember that not only in Tijuana, but in L.A. as well, most crimes are committed late at night. Common sense is a must!

I enjoy traveling in Mexico, and I love the atmosphere and culture. Aside from the tremendous savings I have experienced getting dental and medical procedures done, I have love it in Mexico, and I plan on retiring there in a few years. I feel that it is safe to go to Tijuana. But, the truth is, just like in any large metropolis in the USA, it pays to be cautious and vigilant. You will have a good experience, just like the 10’s of thousands of people who cross the border every day without incident. Don’t be fearful, just keep your eyes open, and you’ll be fine.

Here is the website again: www.GoodSamDental.org   

Four or More Americans Executed in Mexico

 By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter Monday May 19, 2008 9:00 AM PDT

Six gangland style murders four or more are believed Americans who were shot and killed on Sunday as they were traveling on the main highway between Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. According to Baja preventive police five victims were executed, four of them appear to be Americans three men and a women. Police say,” we are withholding the names of the victims until relatives in the states can be notified”. More bodies were found in a separate location at different points of Playas de Rosarito, reported the Mexican papers.

All the shootings were apparently deliberate, targeted, not just random bystanders caught up in the wave of violence that has engulfed U.S. Mexican border cities, Mexican authorities said.

Details are sketchy but the first murder occurred after two PM in the colony in the ejido Mina Primo Tapia’s Fifth Municipality, where a late model vehicle was found abandoned with California plates. Inside the vehicle police discovered the body of an executed male subject, reported a spokesperson of the Rosarito police. Click on or Google: More Americans shot in Mexico

Meanwhile, at seven p.m. last night Sunday, were located the bodies of four people, three African Americans and a white woman, shot in the head.

According to a Mexican policemen at the seine said, “The discovery occurred at kilometer four of the boulevard, under the bridge known as El Morro, where they located a 2nd vehicle a green SUV Cadillac with white California, USA plates.” The officer went on to say in broken English “At 20 meters’ from the SUV, we found dead another man of dark complexion and a white woman, who apparently are also foreigners”. Those bodies have not been identified.

Elements of ministerial personnel and expertise of the Attorney General de Justicia del Estado, working at the crime scene where they collected evidence of multiple homicides.

Last week four Americans were shot and wounded on as they were leaving the Arriba Chihuahua nightclub in the ProNaF tourist zone in the violent Mexican border city of Juárez.

Some 200 people have been killed in Tijuana so far this year. In 2007, there were more than 2,500 drug killings across Mexico and just since the beginning of this year more than 3500 people have been murdered in Mexico in what authorities blame on the Mexican cartels and their criminal gangs and Para-military forces. Dangerous Mexican/U.S. Criminal Enterprises Operating Along the Mexican border

It is estimated that Mexico has 36,000 troops fighting the Mexican drug cartels and their Para-military units throughout the country. With the expected injection of more soldiers being sent to the U.S. Mexican border cities those troops will number near 40,000.

Calderon is seeking U.S. military aid under the provisions of the Merida Initiative, a multiyear .4 billion anti-narcotics package proposed by President Bush. Click on or Google: Merida Initiative Will It Work?

In recent months, and after Mexican president Caldron dispatched the Mexican army and federal police to many interior cities and to Mexican cities on the Mexican U.S. border the level of violence has risen substantially.

As reported earlier this month in the Laguna/El Paso Journal many Americans are wondering when the Bush administration is going to raise the travel alert to its highest level “travel warning,” to forewarn American travelers to Mexico? How many American citizens are going to have to be shot, executed or kidnapped before the American government move to prevent needless deaths and issue the proper high alert of “travel warning,” for Americans?

Google: LAGUNA JOURNAL ARCHIVES

More Americans Shot in Mexico

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter May 8, 2008 1:00 PM PDT

Four Americans were shot and wounded on Thursday as they were leaving the Arriba Chihuahua nightclub in the ProNaF tourist zone in the violent Mexican border city of Juárez. The shootings were apparently deliberate attempts on Americans. They were targeted not just random bystanders caught up in the wave of violence that has recently engulfed Juárez, Mexican authorities said.

The wounded were identified by police as Juan Manuel Contreras Machado, 32, Luz Elena Velazquez, 27, Jorge Jimenez, 21, and Alejandro Vazquez, 26. Mexican police confirmed that all four wounded are Americans and live in the border city of El Paso Texas.

Police said the victims were taken to hospitals in both Juárez and El Paso. Thomason General Hospital in El Paso confirmed that Vazquez and Jimenez are being treated there and are in stable condition.

Many Americans are wondering when the Bush administration is going to raise the travel alert to its highest level “travel warning,” for American travelers to Mexico? How many American citizens are going to have to be shot, killed or kidnapped before the American government move to prevent needless deaths and issue the proper “travel warning,” for Americans?

At the scene of the shooting, investigators found nine 9 mm bullet casings and a green Chevrolet Malibu with Chihuahua plates that had four gunshots in its side windows and windshield.

Since the start of the year, more than 200 people, including several law enforcement officers, have been killed in Juárez alone, in a war between the rival Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels. Since the beginning of this year more than 3500 people have been murdered in Mexico in what authorities blame on the Mexican cartels and their criminal gangs and para-military forces. Officials claimed the rising death toll showed that criminals were panicking about the clampdown.

Last month, and only after pressure from the American press the U.S. State Department updated its travel alert for Mexico warning U.S. tourists about the ongoing violence in Mexico, including the drug battles in Juárez and other border cities. The alert, which is less serious than a “travel warning,” advises visitors to travel during the day, avoid traveling alone and stick to well-known tourist zones. The four shot Americans where in that well-known zone. In fact it happened in downtown Juarez and within a very short distance from downtown El Paso Texas.

More than 50 people died in several separate incidents of related Mexican drug cartel crime in Mexico, with the most gruesome attack by cartel para-military members, occurring in the southern Guerrero state.

In Ciudad Juarez, despite a huge army deployment in the violent city across the border from El Paso, Texas Mexican drug hit men killed a senior police officer.

Gunmen with assault rifles shot Saul Pena, who was due to be named one of city’s five police commanders, as he left police headquarters.

“It seems they were waiting for him,” said police spokesman Jaime Torres. “They shot him with AK-47s in the back, the stomach and the leg. He died in hospital this morning.”

Berenice Garcia Corral was executed by killers who went into her private home garage as she was parking her car. She was the commander of the Juarez sub-office of the state of Chihuahua’s Att’y. Gen’s. Sexual Crimes unit and also 2nd in command of the State Investigative Agency.

Also in Juarez, a private security guard in a bar was found dead an hour after being taken away by commandos. Still in another event, two city police officers in a parked patrol unit suffered bullet wounds from a drive by shooting by unknown persons.

In a barrage of more than 70 shots were fired in a roadway shooting that killed two men Lorenzo Juárez Aguayo, 29, and Agustin Damian Navarrete, 38, and wounded another along Avenida Vicente Guerrero in Juárez, Chihuahua state investigators reported.

The men were in a gray Crown Victoria and had just left a horse race track when they were followed by a white van, whose occupants fired multiple shots; they received multiple gunshot wounds investigators said. Juan Verdugo, 21, who was in the back seat of the car, was wounded and taken to a Juárez hospital in undisclosed condition.

The lifeless bodies of three more men were found on different streets in Juarez. All dead from stab wounds, beat to death and/or shot.

A captain of the Public Municipal Security Dep’t., Saul Pena Lopez, died after having been shot during a car-to-car assault in Juarez.

In Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, a “heavy caliber” car-to-car gunfire assault killed a lawyer, his wife and a third adult and left the dead couple’s minor daughter gravely wounded. Casas Grandes Mexico is some 125 mi. SW of Ciudad Juarez.

Chihuahua, Sonora & Sinaloa experienced extreme violence as seventeen persons were executed, seven of whom were state and city police officers. At Parral, Chihuahua, two city police officers were shot and killed just two blocks away from the police station when they tried to stop subjects in a “camioneta” (read either p/u truck or SUV).

In Nogales, Sonora, a shootout between city police and “presumed criminals” resulted in four deaths, one of them an agent. Three persons were arrested and a woman relative of the thugs was later killed in Hermosillo in what was believed to be a follow-up event to those deaths.

The partially burned bodies of two men were found inside bags in Cajeme; one of them had had his legs cut off.

“Ministerial” agent Jose Manuel Pena Lopez was driving a vehicle in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, when he was shot and killed by subjects riding a motorcycle. And Miguel Angel Santa Cruz Armendariz, the state’s Ministerial Police investigations coordinator was riddled by gunfire.

In Navolato, Sinaloa, the body of a beheaded man was found with a message on a tag board. Three other crimes presumable linked to organized crime took place in the states of Chiapas, Tamaulipas and Durango. Meanwhile, four police officers were killed in an ambush in the northern state of Sinaloa and a local media report said another two local police officers had also been killed.

Rival factions of the local Arellano Felix drug cartel in Tijuana on the Mexico-California border fought each other with rifles and machine guns in the early hours of the morning, police said.

Fourteen bodies lay in pools of blood, strewn along a road near assembly-for-export maquiladora plants on the city’s eastern limits. The corpses were surrounded by hundreds of bullet casings and many of the victims’ faces were destroyed.

A 15th body was found close by after the victim apparently tried to walk away before collapsing dead. Eight other men were wounded and taken to a local hospital where two more cartel members were sot dead by Tijuana police.

In the El Refugio section of Tijuana the body of a man was found inside a vehicle and wrapped in a blanket (note: this is a typical sign that an execution has been committed); the vehicle was left parked in front of a children’s playground.

Heavily armed men killed at least 16 people, all members of a ranchers’ association, in two different massacres in southern Mexico, Mexican media said.

Some 40 men riding in luxury vehicles and wearing uniforms of an elite police squad shot nine people dead in the town of Petatlan in the state of Guerrero, El Universal newspaper reported. And a group toting automatic weapons killed seven people in the town of Iguala, also in Guerrero.

Reforma newspaper said the ranchers were holding a meeting in Iguala and at least two of the sons and other family members and employees of the association’s state leader, Rogaciano Alba, were killed in the attack. Alba himself has survived two other attacks in the past, Reforma said.

The newspapers did not say what could have triggered the attacks but well-armed drug traffickers are active in Guerrero, a poor, mountainous state on the Pacific coast home to the Acapulco beach resort. Clashes over land rights or local politics are also common in Guerrero.

The number of dead in the war against narcotraffic already exceeds three thousand 500 hundred. On average, 205 members of the different factions have died on a monthly basis between Dec. 2006 and April of this year. In contrast, the monthly average of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq is around 100.

President Felipe Calderon has warned that the narco-war would bring with it an elevated cost in human lives, but the specialists in the matter point out that the level of violence was underestimated. The president of the “CNDH” (Mex. Natn’l. Commission on Human Rights), Jose Luis Soberanes, warns that the capacity of the State has been surpassed and that more forceful means are due.

Since December 2006, President Felipe Calderon’s Federal Government has deployed 36,000 military troops and thousands of police around the country in an operation aimed at clamping down on Mexican drug cartels and other organized crime. Many local and state officials think more troops are needed and feel like the troops are losing the battle. The Mexican drug cartel violence has plagued the country since before he took office. Just in March of this year, the Mexican government sent more than 2,500 soldiers and federal police officers to curb the violence in the border city of Juárez. Killings slowed for a few weeks after the arrival of federal forces but appear to have recently resumed. Now many Mexicans believe the cartels have the upper hand and are continuing the horrible global drug business that terrorizes many Mexican families.

 For related articles go to: www.lagunajournal.com

Sources:

Mexico Attorney General’s office

Mexican Military officers

The president of the “CNDH” (Mex. Natn’l. Commission on Human Rights), Jose Luis Soberanes

Juarez police Dept.

Reforma newspaper

El Universal newspaper

Tijuana police

U.S. State Department

The National Association Of Former Border Patrol Officers

Borderfire Report

Laguna Journal

El Paso Times

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Two More Americans Slaughtered in Mexico

BY MICHAEL WEBSTER: SYNDICATED INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER NOV 23, 2008 at 12:30 PM PST

Mexican police this week-end discovered at about 12:15 p.m. the bodies of a male and female believed to be Americans. The riddled bodies were found in a gray 2004 Kia Amanti also riddled with bullets at Boulevard Cuatro Siglos between Hermanos Escobar and Pérez Serna. Police said the car had U.S. plates.

The American couple were believed visiting in Juárez attending the funeral of the killed woman’s sister, who was also killed in a homicide only last week; Juarez police investigators told the El Paso Journal that the couple were obviously targeted.

The largest and only county hospital in El Paso Texas is located just across the border from Juarez Mexico. The El Paso hospital is the only major medical trauma center for miles around is where many wars on drugs and terror victims have been taken for life threading emergency care. A Thomason Hospital official confirmed to the Journal that a man and a woman shot multiple times and killed Saturday afternoon in Juárez worked as health-care professionals in El Paso.

The Thomason official said that the man was a physician’s assistant who worked through the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Paul Foster School of Medicine, and that the woman was an intensive-care unit nurse at the hospital.

A statement from Chihuahua state police said that as many as 20 shell casings were found at the crime scene and that the victims — a male driver, estimated to be in his late 50s, and a female passenger, believed to be in her late 30s — were killed by gunshot wounds.

Investigators at the scene discovered what appeared to be AK-47 shell casings, which were sent for analysis to the Ballistic Forensics Laboratory in Juárez.

Police said the victims were transferred to the city morgue, where autopsies were expected to be conducted.

Juarez Police indicate they have no suspects but believe it is a Mexican cartel gang land style killing. More than a dozen Americans have died in Mexico this year alone from Mexican gang gun fire.

 The Calderon war on drugs in Mexico so far this year has resulted in 4,300 bloody and growsume deaths all related to the drug wars.

 An 11-year-old American citizen from El Paso was killed recently during a highway robbery on the Durango-Mazatlan road in Mexico. The boy, Rico Armando Bañuelas, was on a family trip to Mazatlan when robbers tried to stop the Volkswagen Jetta he was riding in near a section of mountain road known as “El Espinazo del Diablo,” (the devil’s spine), El Siglo De Durango newspaper reported.

The robbers opened fire, killing Rico, when the Jetta sped past a roadblock the bandits had set up and used to rob bus passengers and another vehicle. Rey del Valle, and Rico’s mother, Norma Patricia Chairez, were wounded.

“U.S. citizens should be aware of the risk posed by the deteriorating security situation, in Mexico and along the border” said a statement issued in Mexico City and Washington. “Violent criminal activity, including murder and kidnapping, in Mexico has increased.”

New cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported. No one can be considered immune from kidnapping on the basis of occupation, nationality, or other factors. Criminals have been known to follow and harass U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Reynosa, Juarez, Mexicali, Tijuana and most all border towns. 

Kyle Mostello Belanger

23 year old American Kyle Mostello Belanger has been reported missing since last May and believed to have been kidnapped and is being held against his will for ransom in Juarez Mexico. The information has been forwarded to the Mexican Government and to the FBI and other U.S. agencies with no apparent follow-up investigations much less locating arresting and punishing his perpetrators.

 La Mesa California woman Libby Gianna Craig was among four people found shot to death in a canyon near Rosarito Beach in Baja California.
The 28-year-old was in an area known as Morro Canyon along with three Afro-American males, Mexican police identified as “Black Americans”. Early reports also said more bodies were found in a separate location at different points of Playas de Rosarito, reported some Mexican papers.
 

All the shootings were apparently deliberate, targeted, not just random bystanders caught up in the wave of violence that has engulfed U.S. Mexican border cities, Mexican authorities said.

Also recently four Americans were shot and wounded as they were leaving the Arriba Chihuahua nightclub in the ProNaF tourist zone in the violent Mexican border city of Juárez.

The Mexican government has described much of the violence as revenge for President Felipe Calderón’s two year-old crackdown on organized crime that sent thousands of soldiers and federal police into violence-plagued Mexican cities and all Mexican cities bordering the United States.

The Mexican President Calderon, as while as other officials have pledged to break the country’s powerful drug cartels, which earn billions of dollars a year by supplying U.S. users. 

 Why the U.S. Government has not issued the highest travel alerts to Americans traveling or intending to travel to Mexico is very troubling. Many believe that the close relationship between the two governments and indeed both presidents may contribute to that lenience shown Mexico by the U.S. Government in relation to the travel warnings.  

For more related articles by Michael Webster click on or Google:

 www.lagunajournal.com

Mexico’s Civil War Killing More Americans

Corruption is common on both sides of the border where cash is king

Why not a Warning for Mexico Travel or at Least an Up-grade to the Existing Alert?

El Paso/Juarez Metro-Borderplex — Thousands of Mexican soldiers have been sent to CD. Juarez, after many pleas for help from the Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz. The Mexican troops and federal Mexican police are patrolling the city with gunship helicopters, troop personal carries, pickups and Humvees with mounted .50-caliber machine guns. These Mexican troop convoys are currently operating throughout the city. As reported in the Laguna Journal the Mexican soldiers are armed with combat M-16 fully automatic rifles. This latest action by Mexican President Calderon now places Mexican armed soldiers on the U.S. Border with Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

A convoy of newly arrived Mexican soldiers in a variety of military vehicles traveled along Barranca Azul street to a military installation in South of Juarez Friday.

This latest Mexican troop movement places more than 30,000 Mexican troops combating the Mexican cartels throughout the country. This operation, dubbed Operación Conjunta Chihuahua, by the Mexican army is expected to provoke a violent response from Mexican drug cartels, officials said.

“We are not going to give in,” Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said. “In the states where there is most violence, we will be right there to confront the phenomenon.”

Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, held hostage and killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported.

An alarming number of Americans are vanishing in Mexico where there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of U.S. citizens who have recently been reported missing or kidnapped along the border with Mexico, reports the Washington Post. Many who have vanished from U.S. cities are still missing and it is feared they will turn up in the mass graves that have been discovered lately in Mexico.

Mexican federal police guard the home where authorities discovered 36 bodies buried beneath a patio. The tallest building stands on the same property where the remains were found.

The U.S. Government has not issued a new travel warning or even an up-grade on its existing alert. Even though many Mexican cities on the U.S. Border and elsewhere in Mexico is under siege. The question is why not. Mexico is now one of the most dangerous countries in the world. And it is our neighbors to the south with a population nearing 100 million people.

Fort Bliss bans soldiers from visiting Juarez because of increasing violence there, Fort Bliss officials say they’ve discontinued issuing passes to soldiers who want to travel across the border to Juarez. If its not safe for U.S. Soldiers, than it is unsafe for other Americans. Said, John Lutes who was born in El Paso and served in the military.

The Maverick Conservative Public Journal reported recently that citizens in both El Paso Texas and Juarez Mexico woke up to the news that thousands of Mexican troops are now patrolling the streets of Juarez according to flash radio and TV reports. The troops are there according to Mexican President Filipe Caldron because of the ongoing violence” in the DRUG WAR going on along the Mexican border (especially in Mexican cities bordering the U.S. like Juarez.

Juan Diaz a resident of Juarez said “he awoke recently to a radio report about another gunshot victim being rushed to an AMERICAN hospital from Columbus, Mexico–the place, I believe, where the POLICE CHIEF sought asylum in the U.S. from about two weeks ago.” The El Paso Times has even begun carrying stories about it being DANGEROUS for people to go to Juarez. You know things are BAD when they start to be warnings about going into Mexico. Both economies depend a good deal on tourist, and El Paso hardly wants people to get the idea that Juarez is a DANGEROUS place to visit. People visiting Juarez generally go through El Paso. To me, this DETERIORATION along the Mexican border I have never seen it this bad in the 40 years I have lived in the region.” At a recent news conference in Juárez , Gen. Guillermo Galván Galván, Mexico’s defense secretary, said 100 soldiers would also be sent to Palomas, across the border from Columbus, N.M. See Mexican Police Chief Requests US Asylum

Meanwhile, even the national mainstream media is pretty much ignoring the deteriorating situation along the Mexican border even as it has become daily news, as they continue their propaganda against any effective action to control illegal immigration or to secure the Mexican border.

The most dangerous city in the world status is the one where there is a war zone, where killings, kidnappings, torture, muggings or any number of other criteria could be used to claim the “most dangerous” title. Mexico meets all that criteria and more, yet the U.S. Government seems to be doing nothing.

Many critics claim that the relationship between Washington and Mexico City is to cozy.

Since President Bush took office he has been reluctant to criticize Mexico. Critic’s of NAFTA say the President does not want to do anything to upset the Mexican Government as he courts their membership in the U.S. Canadian, Mexico reliance program referred to as “The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” (SPP). Critic’s of the war on drugs and terror say for what ever reasons the Bush administration wants the border between Mexico and the U.S. to remain open at all costs. The U.S. ambassador to Mexico said the United States is considering issuing a heightened travel alert in the coming days. “While there is little doubt in my mind that the travel alert should be reissued, it may also be necessary to heighten the alert to better reflect the increasing insecurity in the state of Chihuahua,” U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said.

The U.S. State Department reluctantly issued an alert last year warning Americans about travel in areas of Mexico where foreigners have been targeted. The alert is due to expire April 15. 2008. Mexico has suffered a wave of organized crime and drug-related violence that killed more than 2,500 people last year.

According to the U.S. State Department “Travel Warnings” are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Countries where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel Warnings as well as Country Specific Information. No travel warning is in place for the country of Mexico

Travel Warning should provide updated information on the security situation in Mexico. The security threat to all American citizens in Mexico remains critical.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. And other countries but not Mexico. U.S. Mexican border Drug War kills more than War on Terror in Afghanistan The State dept. says that no part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence, and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts, either targeted or random, against American and other western nationals at any time. That is also true of Mexico. There is an on-going threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens. Mexican authorities have a limited ability to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors.

Travel in all areas of Mexico, including border cities, is unsafe due to military operations, armed rivalries among numerous Drug Cartels, Gangs and other drug war activity, kidnappings for ransom and kidnappings for revenge killings, banditry, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.

Foreigners throughout the country continued to be targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings, motivated by Mexican criminals.

Riots and incidents of civil disturbance can and do occur, often without warning. American citizens should avoid rallies and demonstrations; even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.

Carjackings, robberies, and violent crime remain a problem. Americans who find themselves in such situations cannot assume that either local law enforcement or the U.S. Embassy will be able to assist them.

Travel Alerts are a means to disseminate information about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. The TAs are made when there is a specific threat that cannot be countered. In the past, Travel Alerts have been issued to deal with short-term coups, violence by terrorists and anniversary dates of specific terrorist events.

U.s. Issues New Travel Alert to Mexico But No Recommendation to Avoid Mexico

MICHAEL WEBSTER: INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Oct 16, 2008 2:00 PM PDT 

The new travel alert only updates security information for U.S. citizens traveling and living in Mexico.  It replaces the Travel Alert for Mexico dated April 14, 2008, and expires on April 14, 2009. However it does not up-grade the travel alert to higher status as many believe it should. If the conditions that prevail in Mexico today was happening anywhere else in the world the highest travel alert would have already been issued. I reported last April by asking the questions “why the U.S. Government has not issued a new travel warning or even an up-grade on its existing alert? Now the U.S has up-graded again.

The question still is why not raise the alert to a warning status and protect Americans and warn them to not travel to Mexico. At least until some or all the violence stops and it is safe again to travel in Mexico. Many travelers believe if this same thing was happening in any other country there would be a warning not to travel issued. Why not Mexico?That is the question why not? Mexico is now one of the most dangerous countries in the world. And it is our neighbor to the south with a population of over 100 million people.Even the U.S. Military ban its personal from visiting Mexico because of the increasing violence there.

U.S. Army posts along or near the U.S. Mexican border according to officials, say they’ve discontinued issuing passes to soldiers who want to travel across the border to Mexico. “If it’s not safe for U.S. Soldiers, than it is unsafe for other Americans. Said, John Lutes, who was born in El Paso and served in the military.The new travel alert up-date says “that while millions of U.S. Citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including thousands who cross the land border every day for study, tourism or business, increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and whom to contact if one is a victim of crime.  Common-sense precautions, such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas, avoiding areas where prostitution and drug dealing might occur, and exercising prudence in where one visits during the evening hours and at night, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable.”Violence along the U.S. – Mexico border is increasing Mexican drug cartels are engaged in an increasingly violent fight for control of narcotics trafficking routes along the U.S. – Mexico border in an apparent response to the Government of Mexico’s initiatives to crack down on narco-trafficking organizations. In order to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed over 45,000 military troops in various parts of the country. These Mexican troops are manning road blocks and check points all over the country. The U.S. tells citizens they should cooperate fully with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways. The problem with that is bandits and other criminals are also setting up road blocks and so called check points through out Mexico and are wearing full or partial police or military uniforms and are using vehicles that resemble police or military vehicles, so how is someone even a national much less an American tell which is which.

That is the problem you can’t. And that is one reason Americans should avoid Mexico.The Bureau of Consular Affairs says “Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border.  Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists.  However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region.Americans in Mexico are falling victim to armed robberies and carjackings. This new type of Mexican Violence has increased in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.  Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, held hostage and killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported.From Brownsville Texas to San Diego California the State Department has alerted Americans of the dangers of crossing the border.   Google or click on: Why not a Warning for Mexico travel or at least an up-grade to the existing alert?

In other cases Mexican cartels through their enforcers of Mexican and American gangs order smaller American gangs to kidnap and in some cases murder Americans.”U.S. citizens should be aware of the risk posed by the deteriorating security situation, along the border” said a statement issued in Mexico City and Washington. “Violent criminal activity, including murder and kidnapping, in Mexico’s northern border region has increased.” New cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported. No one can be considered immune from kidnapping on the basis of occupation, nationality, or other factors. Criminals have been known to follow and harass U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles including motors homes and travel trailers, particularly in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Reynosa, Juarez, Mexicali, Tijuana and most all border towns. 

Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007. Google or click on: Americans Being Kidnapped, Held and killed in Mexico The new as the old alert goes on to say “Recent Mexican army and police force conflicts with heavily-armed narcotics cartels have escalated to levels equivalent to military small-unit combat and have included use of machine guns and fragmentation grenades.   Confrontations have taken place in numerous towns and cities in northern Mexico, including Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua.  The situation in northern Mexico remains very fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements there cannot be predicted”. Public shootouts have occurred during daylight hours near shopping areas in many Mexican border towns. Over 5,000 people have been murdered in Mexico so far this year. That figure is more than has been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.The new alert goes on to report that a number of areas along the border are experiencing rapid growth in the rates of many types of crime.  More than 1,600 cars were reportedly stolen in Ciudad Juarez in the month of July 2008, and bank robberies there are up dramatically.  Rates for robberies, homicides, petty thefts, and carjackings have all increased over the last year across Mexico generally, with notable spikes in Tijuana and northern Baja California.  Cuidad Juarez, Tijuana, Palomas and Nogales are among the cities which have recently experienced public shootouts during daylight hours in shopping centers and other public venues. 

Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Tijuana, and along Route 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo. A very dangerous situation is playing out in Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns and has become a special concern for U.S. citizens. A recent series of muggings near the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez has targeted applicants for U.S. visas.  Visa and other service seekers visiting the Consulate are encouraged to not carry cash and to make provisions to pay for those services with something other than cash.Mexican authorities are reporting that more than 1,000 people have been killed in Ciudad Juarez this year alone. 

U.S. citizens should pay close attention to their surroundings while traveling in Ciudad Juarez, avoid isolated locations during late night and early morning hours, and remain alert to news reports.  U.S. citizens are urged to be alert to safety and security concerns when visiting the border region.  Criminals are armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons.  In some cas
es, assailants have worn full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles. While the largest increase in violence has occurred near the U.S. border, U.S. citizens traveling elsewhere in Mexico should also exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times.  Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in some violent attacks, demonstrating the heightened risk in public places.  In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped across Mexico and many cases remain unresolved. 

U.S. citizens who believe they are being targeted for kidnapping or other crimes should notify Mexican officials and the nearest American consulate or the Embassy as soon as possible.  U.S. citizens should make every attempt to travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly the toll (“cuota”) roads, which are generally more secure.  U.S. citizens are encouraged to stay in well-known tourist destinations and tourist areas of the cities with more adequate security, and provide an itinerary to a friend or family member not traveling with them.  U.S. citizens should avoid traveling alone, and should carry a GSM-enabled cell phone that functions internationally.  Refrain from displaying expensive-looking jewelry, large amounts of money, or other valuable items.Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Juarez and Tijuana. Though State Department officials updated the travel alert for Mexico, they did not upgrade it to a more serious “travel warning,” which is reserved for long-term conditions, officials said.Even though many Mexican cities on the U.S. Border and elsewhere in Mexico are under siege, the question is why not. Mexico is now one of the most dangerous countries in the world. And it is our neighbor to the south with a population nearing 100 million people. 

Our government admits Criminals are armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons.  In some cases, assailants have worn full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles. How are American travelers expected to be able to distinguish between the real Mexican army at the road blocks and the criminals? Americans are targeted by Mexican bandits and other Mexican criminals because they are American and are believed to have money with them”. 

The State department says if you do become a victim of crime while your in Mexico and remember this is after the fact are urged to contact the consular section of the nearest U.S. consulate or Embassy for advice and assistance.

23 year old American from El Paso Kyle Mostello Belanger- Believed Missing in Juarez MexicoBorn in Tenn. 23 year old American from El Paso Kyle Mostello Belanger- believed missing in Juarez Mexico. Close friends and relatives believe he was a soldier for the El Paso Barrio Azteca gang. The real question here, was Kyle kidnapped taken to Juarez and murdered as some believe.

According to the U.S. State Department “Travel Warnings” are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Countries such as some middle eastern where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel Warnings as well as Country Specific Information. No such travel warning is in place for the country of Mexico.

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Discover Best American Travel Destination, Mexico!

Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area. Mexico is famous as a land full of mystery and wonder, and a mixture of the modern and the traditional. Mexico has a pleasant climate, which varies by region. It has two popular seasons, dry and rainy season, Dry season starts from late November and lasts till early June, while rainy season starts from June and lasts till November, and flights to Mexico U.S.A can be scheduled accordingly. To know about flights schedules your visit to cheap flights to mexico can be helpful. Here you can search about the cheap flights schedules for cheapest flights to Mexico from UK.

The main feature which make any place a tourist destination are its attractions. These attractions are; Cancun & Cozumel, Templo Mayor, Puerto Vallarta, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá, Santo Domingo, Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve,  Palacio de Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, Los Cabos,  Bosque de Chapultepec and the Museo National de Antropología, San Angel, Zona Rosa, Palanquins, Guanajuato, Tijuana, Mexico Air ports, and Creel.

Cancun & Cozumel: it covers an area of about 55,000 square kilometers.These are white smooth sandy beaches, which give a wonderful landscape. This site can be best described as; Jungle and Sea. This splendid resort city of Cancun now offers visitors over 25,000 rooms in four and five star hotels it’s easy to book your hotel after or along with your Mexico U.S.A flights, as well as all every thing else.

Puerto Vallarta: it is Mexico’s resort town.There is a modern four lane highway from Mexico City to Acapulco. cheap Flights to Mexico City from Acapulco take approximately 35 minutes. It offers tourists attractions like; La Quebrada Cliff Divers, Zócalo, Pie de la Cuesta, Puerto Marquez, and Isla de la Roqueta.

Santo Domingo: is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic, known as the “Gateway to the Caribbean”. This is must see place if you have a chance of flights to Mexico. The city is the center of economic activity in the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo is the oldest city in the New World. It is just 30 minutes from Las Americas International Airport.

Mexico Air ports: There are many air ports in Mexico to facilitate Mexico flights. These air ports provide travelers with every facility like: Stores, WiFi Internet Access, Authorized Taxis, Car Rental Agencies, Bars and Restaurants, ATMs and Money Exchange, Bus Station at Mexico City’s Airport, and Executive Lounges. To get information about cheap flights to Mexico U.S.A from UK and Mexico air ports just click on