According to data from Mexico’s Tourism Secretary, 270-thousand students are set to visit Mexico during the spring break season. That number will translate to millions of dollars in income to the Mexican economy.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador knows how important that income is to his economy and so he comes out with a statement just before the spring break season “Mexico is safer than the United States. There is no problem in traveling safely in Mexico.”
Sadly the facts do not support the president’s contention. The Associated Press reports “Mexico’s nationwide homicide rate is about 28 per 100,000 inhabitants. By comparison, the U.S. homicide rate is barely one-quarter as high, at around 7 per 100,000.”
The Mexican president brushed off continued concern over violence. Currently, the U.S. State Department has “do not travel” advisories for six of Mexico’s 32 states plagued by drug cartel violence, and “reconsider travel” warnings for seven other states.
“This is a campaign against Mexico by these conservative politicians in the United States who do not want the transformation of our country to continue,” López Obrador said.
“This violence is not a reality,” he added. “It is pure, vile manipulation.”
Facts are hard to dispute. It is reported that late Saturday six men and two women at a club in the largely rural township of Apaseo El Grande, where rival cartels have been fighting for control for years.
How many students looking for a good time be dissuaded from changing their spring plans for a good time? Probably not many.
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