Several years ago (before I was married), I was trying to learn Spanish. I remember finding a program that allowed people to go to Mexico for a really fair price and live with a Mexican family for a week (or more) to be fully immersed in the language, thus learning it quicker.
My brother got wind of my plans and told my mother to talk me out of it. He was aware of something that I was not. Americans were being kidnapped. Drug gangs were running rampant. Crime there was out of control.
Sadly, things have gotten worse. Are you the parent of a college student who wants to go to Mexico for spring break? Are you, yourself thinking about going to Mexico any time soon?
I don’t believe in living in fear, but I do believe in facing reality. The sad reality regarding Mexico is that for too long its government has turned a blind eye to the drug thugs who have been roaming freely, moving from Mexico to the United States as they sell their drugs, strong arm, and murder innocent people.
Now that Mexico’s economy is being shaken by the fact that Americans and others are afraid to go there due to the increasing crime rates, perhaps that government will do something.
In the wake of recent violence in Mexico and ensuing U.S. government warnings about traveling there, universities, colleges and local governments are warning students to be cautious when traveling to the country over spring break—or not to go at all.
Local officials and at least one university near the U.S.-Mexico border are telling spring breakers to avoid towns in the areas that have seen the most drug-related violence in Mexico. Students visiting South Padre Island, Texas, a popular spring-break destination, are being warned not to cross the border. “Parents should not allow their children to visit these Mexican (border) cities because their safety cannot be guaranteed,” Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said in a warning issued March 4.
There is some good news. Security is being increased in some of the more popular Mexican destinations such as Acapulco. However, I still personally will not go to Mexico and until something is done to curtail the roving criminals who own the streets there, I would not advise anyone else to go.
Photo credit HERE
