BajaNomad - US State Department Updates Travel Alert On Mexico

US State Department Updates Travel Alert On Mexico

arrowhead - 2-23-2010 at 09:58 AM

Quote:

he US State Department continues to urge people who visit Mexico to exercise caution.

The State Department's updated travel alert for Mexico says even though tens of thousands of students, business people and tourists cross the land border safely every day, violence in the country has increased.

The alert repeats much of the information contained in an alert it replaces, issued six months ago. The revised version states that drug cartels are battling among themselves and with Mexican security forces to control drug smuggling routes along the U.S.-Mexico border. It advises that large drug cartel firefights occur mostly in northern Mexico, including Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.

The updated alert omits Tijuana from a list of cities where there's been a notable spike in crimes including robberies, homicides and carjackings. However, the alert does still include northern Baja California on the list. That's where Tijuana is.

In addition, the revised update omits the clause, "Although the greatest increase of violence has occurred on the Mexican side of the U.S. border," at the beginning of a sentence warning U.S. citizens to exercise caution and be vigilant in unfamiliar areas in Mexico. Then the alert goes on to say, "Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales are among the cities which have 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, and Tijuana."

Baja California's Governor and Secretary of Tourism have strongly urged the U.S. State Department to ease up on Tijuana, saying the Department's alerts don't jibe with the realities of daily life in Baja Califorina and drain tourist dollars from the state. Tijuana's Mayor said last week he also plans to ask for changes to the document.

The State Department revises the travel alert twice a year. Travel alerts advise people of short term security conditions in a country. Travel warnings discuss long term conditions.

Mexico is one of five countries for which the State Department has issued travel alerts. The four others are India, Niger, Malaysia and the Philipines.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/feb/22/us-state-department-upd...

Here's link to the Frontera article in Spanish:

EU renueva alerta de viaje a México

slimshady - 2-23-2010 at 10:23 AM

I thought they were talking about South Central L.A. for a moment.

Woooosh - 2-23-2010 at 11:55 AM

The truth: "Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana."

The bad news: "Even Mexicans are not confident that the arrests of El Teo and the Crutches will end the violence, they do not agree with Mayor Ramos regarding the US Consulate removing the travel warnings to foreigners. They think alerts to foreigners should remain in place because tourists need to be aware they are at risk." From the AFN site via CMD

The worse than bad news: "The State Department revises the travel alert twice a year." So this alert is good through... August?

[Edited on 2-23-2010 by Woooosh]

arrowhead - 2-23-2010 at 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by slimshady
I thought they were talking about South Central L.A. for a moment.

Mexico reminds you of South Central L.A.?

Canadian point of view...

C-Urchin - 2-23-2010 at 02:04 PM

This is what the Canadian government warns about traveling in the United of States.

3. SAFETY AND SECURITY

The decision to travel is the sole responsibility of the traveller. The traveller is also responsible for his or her own personal safety. The purpose of this Travel Report is to provide Canadians with up-to-date information to enable them to make well-informed decisions.

Street crime can spill over into commercial, hotel, and entertainment areas. Riots occasionally occur; these are usually confined to the poorer districts of major cities, but the violence can spread to central commercial and hotel areas. Full cooperation is recommended when stopped by police.

Sound familiar??? :rolleyes:

Bajahowodd - 2-23-2010 at 03:00 PM

Geez. You could almost attach any country's name to that and it would be true.

Hook - 2-23-2010 at 07:15 PM

If the Canadians continue to play poor hockey against good teams, there will be a riot in Vancouver.

Woooosh - 2-23-2010 at 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by C-Urchin
This is what the Canadian government warns about traveling in the United of States.

3. SAFETY AND SECURITY

The decision to travel is the sole responsibility of the traveller. The traveller is also responsible for his or her own personal safety. The purpose of this Travel Report is to provide Canadians with up-to-date information to enable them to make well-informed decisions.

Street crime can spill over into commercial, hotel, and entertainment areas. Riots occasionally occur; these are usually confined to the poorer districts of major cities, but the violence can spread to central commercial and hotel areas. Full cooperation is recommended when stopped by police.

Sound familiar??? :rolleyes:

No, it doesn't to me really. That sounds like an adult talking to an adult about taking responsibility and acting wisely. I've never seen that honest, concise kind of talk from the US State Department to Americans at all. Not in under 1000 words without dozens of clarifications, exemptions and political pussy-footing at least... :saint:

bajabass - 2-24-2010 at 09:01 AM

Let me see, I grew up outside of Detroit through the sixties. 3 years near good old Pomona, spent 4 years in the Marine Corps, and the last 30 in the suburban bliss of O.C. Well, except for all the shootings every week next door in Santa Ana, and the kids with guns and drugs in the junior and senior high schools of Orange. I learned many years ago that life anywhere can be hazardous to your health, and watch your own burro. I really do not need the U.S. State Department to tell me I should. People can talk all they want to about percentages and statistics of incidents in the U.S. vs Baja. I know where I am going, what I am doing, and where I should not go and what I should not to do. People that cannot say the same, should stay in the relative safety of their own homes, and just keep wearing their blinders concerning what goes on all around them every day. Baja is just to dangerous for them. Then again, after several kidnappings, robberies, rapes, and murders, our state and national parks are not the safest places on earth either. Oh, don't forget the child molester they caught at a hotel next to Disneyland last week. Uh oh, I am scaring myself now!!!

No !!! We will not be part of the coverup !!!

CaboRon - 2-26-2010 at 08:22 AM

Tijuana Mayor Wants U.S. State Department To Reconsider Mexico Travel Alert
.By Amy Isackson

February 24, 2010

Tijuana's Mayor, Jorge Ramos, wants the U.S. State Department to omit warnings about violence in Tijuana from future travel alerts on Mexico.

Earlier this week, the state department issued a travel alert that continues to urge U.S. citizens who visit Mexican border cities to exercise caution. The alert, which replaces one issued six months ago, states again that drug cartels are battling among themselves and with Mexican security forces to control drug smuggling routes along the U.S.-Mexico border. It advises that large drug cartel firefights occur mostly in northern Mexico, including in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.

Ramos says it's unfair to lump Tijuana in with border cities like Ciudad Juarez because Mexican law enforcement has made progress fighting crime in Tijuana.

Ramos was in Washington D.C. for a U.S.-Mexico binational meeting on reducing drug demand. At the meeting, Ramos invited the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to visit Tijuana again to see for himself law enforcement's success.

The updated alert does delete Tijuana from a list of cities where there has been a notable spike in crimes including robberies, homicides and carjackings. However, northern Baja California is still on the list.

Also absent from the new alert is the clause, "Although the greatest increase of violence has occurred on the Mexican side of the U.S. border," which was previously at the beginning of a sentence warning U.S. citizens to exercise caution and be vigilant in unfamiliar areas in Mexico.

However, the alert goes on to say, "Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales are among the cities which have 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, and Tijuana."

Baja California's Secretary of Tourism Oscar Escobedo says he is very disappointed that the State Department's revisions weren't more substantial. He says he thought the U.S.-Mexico relationship had advanced.

Escobedo says Baja Calfiornia spent $500,000 last year on a U.S. public relations firm and a San Diego marketing group to help boost tourism to Baja California. Escobedo says Mexico's federal government matched the state's expenditure. He was in Mexico City on Tuesday to secure the same funding for 2010.

Escobedo says the public relations firm, Fleishman-Hillard, and San Diego marketing group, 1st Strike Creative, targeted U.S. media outlets last year. He says the next stage is the political process, including a visit to the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. State Department revises the Mexico travel alert twice a year, which means an update will next occur in August. Mexico is one of five countries for which the State Department has issued alerts. The others are India, Niger, Malaysia and the Philippines. Alerts are milder than "warnings" which the State Department issues for countries such as Iraq and Pakistan.

Travel alerts advise people of short-term security conditions in a country. Travel warnings discuss long-term conditions.

[Edited on 2-26-2010 by CaboRon]

Woooosh - 2-26-2010 at 09:24 AM

"Tijuana Mayor Wants U.S. State Department To Reconsider Mexico Travel Alert"

... and I think the TJ mayor should go to CostCo, pick up their $900 16 camera security system and have his boys install it along the via rapida from San Ysidro to Playas (using the existing wires and poles from the former $15 Million system) and THEN he has the right to complain about the recent Travel Alerts (tourists being followed and targeted in their cars in TJ).

Yes, they paid way too much for the system- but it did work and was the envy of other countries. They used the camera system against each other instead of protecting the people it was installed to protect (the Police and newly-arrived Military were catching each other on camera taking bribes). The camera system worked so well it was credited for over 12,000 criminal detentions the first year- and the system operators at the command center were threatened. Then the cameras disappeared. Who knows why. The crime wave of the past two years hasn't been fun for anyone in TJ.

"City officials say the public-security program has benefited the community. One command center operator said it has assisted in 12,800 detentions from April 2006 to April 2007. García said a 70 percent decline in traffic accidents can be attributed to people driving more cautiously under the watchful eye of the speed radar cameras."

TJ says it is losing hundreds of million of dollars a year in lost tourism. So do the math and put back in the $15 Million system that worked. Nah- they'd rather just blame the media and leave tourists to fend for themselves without the system in place. Geesh- even they say it worked, they just didn't like the way they got it or the person who got it for them.

The proof is in their actions- not their words. SOS again...

http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/2007071...

[Edited on 2-26-2010 by Woooosh]

k-rico - 2-26-2010 at 09:55 AM

"TJ says it is losing hundreds of million of dollars a year in lost tourism."

I find it hard to believe tourism brought in that much to TJ, but maybe. If it was 100 million per year that would be 2 million per week. If every tourist spent $100 that would be 20,000 tourists per week, every week.

Tourism in TJ is pretty much limited to 10 or so blocks along Avenida Revolucion. Most of it walk across day trippers.

Am I wrong?

tripledigitken - 2-26-2010 at 10:08 AM

K-Rico,

Don't have information has to the dollar decline in tourism, but I can offer observations from a recent trip.

We used Mexicoach to park and travel back by bus. The parking lot (US side) is now about 1/3 the size as it used to be. The number of cars was 50% capacity of the remaining size on a Sat Morning. The terminal in Tijuana used to have a waiting room with dozens of benches with buses leaving at 30 min intervals back to the US. Now that waiting room is closed and there are about 6 benches just in from Revolution to sit on and the bus was a 1 hour wait to go back across, with only a 10 or so on board with 4 being American tourists.

Ken

oldlady - 2-26-2010 at 10:09 AM

Dunno..a "tourist" non-resident spending $100 per week sounds like a low assumption.

k-rico - 2-26-2010 at 10:24 AM

I was thinking 20,000 tourists per week cross the border for a day trip to TJ and in that day spend $100. That gets you $2 million per week, $100+ million per year.

No doubt tourism is down, I'm just questioning the impact of that on the TJ economy.

Woooosh - 2-26-2010 at 10:35 AM

Mexican Tourism took a $2 Billion hit in 2009. A couple hundred million dollars for TJ/Rosarito seems conservative IMHO.

http://www.eturbonews.com/14432/mexicos-tourism-revenue-drop...

"Feb 16, 2010

Mexico's revenue from foreign tourism dropped 15 percent in 2009 amid the global economic downturn and the swine flu epidemic.

The Tourism Department says Mexico received almost $11.3 billion from foreign tourism in 2009, compared to $13.3 billion in 2008."

JESSE - 2-26-2010 at 10:52 AM

I understand people are still wary about northern baja, but you have to accept and give credit to the authorities for what they have acomplished. The numbers of murders in the area went from about 50 a week, to about 8 a week. Thats a drastic reduction.

Woooosh - 2-26-2010 at 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JESSE
I understand people are still wary about northern baja, but you have to accept and give credit to the authorities for what they have acomplished. The numbers of murders in the area went from about 50 a week, to about 8 a week. Thats a drastic reduction.

How many lives would that $15Million camera system have saved the last three years? How many more of the corrupt would have been caught? How much quicker could this nightmare have been controlled and ended?

And maybe we have different definintions of "murder", because the body counts I read about for TJ are way more than 32 a month- this report shows 39 the first week of January 2010 alone.

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-08/mexico/tijuana-goes-...

JESSE - 2-26-2010 at 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Should've, could've, would've. But its done, and ever since Teo's gang was eliminated (wich happened AFTER the first week when your article was made), murders went down. Wich we all knew would happen as he was responsible for most of the crimes.

arrowhead - 2-26-2010 at 11:37 AM

Quote:

Since the beginning of 2010, the number of murders in TJ alone have been 3 to 4 per day. It's in all the papers where the total body count is reported. I'm not even adding in Mexicali, Ensenada or all the small towns.

JESSE - 2-26-2010 at 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by arrowhead

Quote:

AFTER Teos gang was eliminated, the murder rate went down 70%, that is a fact. Teo was responsible for most of the crimes, so its natural for the murder rate to go down after his arrest.

arrowhead - 2-26-2010 at 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JESSE
AFTER Teos gang was eliminated, the murder rate went down 70%, that is a fact. Teo was responsible for most of the crimes, so its natural for the murder rate to go down after his arrest.

Jesse, we just have to learn to deal with the facts. I fail to understand why that is such a difficult concept.

Quote:

http://www.10news.com/news/22676692/detail.html

In 2009, the city of San Diego had 41 homicides. In Tijuana, there were 664.

Since January 2010, Tijuana has already seen 174 murders.

664 murders in 2009 is 1.8 per day.
174 murders in 2010 in 55 days is 3.2 per day.

Woooosh - 2-26-2010 at 12:15 PM

Blaming everything on Teo is a huge stretch- as if he was shooting at his own people. Narco trafficking is a growth industry in Mexico, not a crime pattern. Whack-a-mole.