Do We or Don't We? Mexico? Too Dangerous???

[steveksux]

If you look at the murders in Detroit, for instance, you'll find a very small number of random murders.

If you're into drugs, ripping people off, especially into ripping off drug dealers, you are in danger. Most people are murdered by someone they know. Someone they screwed.

Tourist murders get a lot of press. Makes them look far more likely than they actually are.

Don't be stupid and piss someone off, and you'll likely be fine nearly anywhere. Nearly...

Randy

 

[Tat2dHeart]

Wow that's a bummer. Sounds like Baltimore!
I get accosted when here almost daily.
So they held you at gunpoint and looted your vehicles?

Yeah. It was a bit of a heart-pounding moment. I'm not sure which was scarier though - the being held at gunpoint or the guy who kept touching my hair.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

Yeah. It was a bit of a heart-pounding moment. I'm not sure which was scarier though - the being held at gunpoint or the guy who kept touching my hair.

I don't know... for some reason this sounds like an internet story ...
at any rate, the world isn't very safe, but one thing I have found wherever I go is that there are good and bad people.
See all you brave folks out on the road, cheers!

 

[Munjibunga]

We can desist with the sea stories and advice. They're not going.

 

[AndreBas]

Actually, it's kinda common knowledge.

Just admit you've never been to Monterrey. And your "kinda common knowledge" is anything but knowledge.

Every place has its good an bad spots and to discard a whole nation as 'dangerous' from behind the computer desk is fear, and nothing but fear.

+1

 

[Gaius46]

Ranking of the 50 Most Dangerous Cities in the World for 2011

Rank City Country Murders Population Rate
1 San Pedro Sula Honduras 1,143 719,447 158.87
2 Juárez Mexico 1,974 1,335,890 147.77
3 Maceio Brazil 1,564 1,156,278 135.26
4 Acapulco Mexico 1,029 804,412 127.92
5 Tegucigalpa Honduras 1,123 1,126,534 99.69
6 Caracas Venezuela 3,164 3,205,463 98.71
7 Torreón Mexico 990 1,128,152 87.75
8 Chihuahua Mexico 690 831,693 82.96
9 Durango Mexico 474 593,389 79.88
10 Belém Brazil 1,639 2,100,319 78.04
11 Cali Colombia 1,720 2,207,994 77.90
12 Guatemala City Guatemala 2,248 3,014,060 74.58
13 Culiacán Mexico 649 871,620 74.46
14 Medellín Colombia 1,624 2,309,446 70.32
15 Mazatlán Mexico 307 445,343 68.94
16 Tepic Mexico 299 439,362 68.05
17 Vitoria Brazil 1,143 1,685,384 67.82
18 Veracruz Mexico 418 697,414 59.94
19 Ciudad Guayana Venezuela 554 940,477 58.91
20 San Salvador El Salvador 1,343 2,290,790 58.63
21 New Orleans USA 199 343,829 57.88
22 Salvador Brazil 2,037 3,574,804 56.98
23 Cúcuta Colombia 335 597,385 56.08
24 Barquisimeto Venezuela 621 1,120,718 55.41
25 San Juan Puerto Rico 225 427,789 52.60
26 Manaus Brazil 1,079 2,106,866 51.21
27 São Luís Brazil 516 1,014,837 50.85
28 Nuevo Laredo Mexico 191 389,674 49.02
29 João Pessoa Brazil 583 1,198,675 48.64
30 Detroit USA 346 713,777 48.47
31 Cuiaba Brazil 403 834,060 48.32
32 Recife Brazil 1,793 3,717,640 48.23
33 Kingston Jamaica 550 1,169,808 47.02
34 Cape Town South Africa 1,614 3,497,097 46.15
35 Pereira Colombia 177 383,623 46.14
36 Macapa Brazil 225 499,116 45.08
37 Fortaleza Brazil 1,514 3,529,138 42.90
38 Monterrey Mexico 1,680 4,160,339 40.38
39 Curitiba Brazil 720 1,890,272 38.09
40 Goiânia Brazil 484 1,302,001 37.17
41 Port Elizabeth South Africa 381 1,050,930 36.25
42 Barranquilla Colombia 424 1,182,493 35.86
43 St. Louis USA 113 319,294 35.39
44 Mosul Iraq 636 1,800,000 35.33
45 Belo Horizonte Brazil 1,680 4,883,721 34.40
46 Panama City Panama 543 1,713,070 31.70
47 Cuernavaca Mexico 198 630,174 31.42
48 Baltimore USA 195 620,961 31.40
49 Durban South Africa 1,059 3,468,087 30.54
50 Johannesburg South Africa 1,186 3,888,180 30.50


Read it at Advantage Mexico - Five of the top 10 most violent cities in the world for 2011 are in Mexico - Advantage Mexico News Invalid Link Removed
Gracias!

Interesting that the entire top 20 and 43 of the top 50 are in Mexico/Central/South America. Does seem to imply that if one's going to avoid Mexico the entire South American land mass is probably similarly off limits.

New Orleans - at #21 - is one of my all time favorite cities. I don't think twice about travelling there.

 

[MrLenny1]

I agree with jakelly.

 

[Stewie26]

I have been to Mexico at least a dozen times. I watch what I drink and eat very closely. With that said, I have gotten ill at least three times. You know, stuff coming out of both ends, sweating, dizzy, ears ringing and so on. There is no way I could have played any gig with that going on. I just wanted to mention their are also other risk, besides getting killed, in Mexico.

 

[Gopherbassist]

Number of Murders, United States, 2009: 15,241

Number of Murders, Mexico, 2009: 9,614
Number of Murders, Mexico, 20010: 15,273

I'd play in Mexico anytime and take my family with me. The US is a very violent country, yet its citizens think they live in the most peaceful spot on earth. I have known many US citizens who wouldn't even travel to Europe.

The drug cartels/mafia or whatever have no interest in some musician's gear, that's less than peanuts for them. Only regular thieves would be interested, just as in any other country (including the US.)



sources
http://www.juancole.com/2011/01/over-9000-murders-by-gun-in-us-39-in-uk.html[/url]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/14/mexico-drug-war-murders-map

Population of Mexico: 114,000,000
Population on the USA: 314,000,000

You can't just ignore the number of people that live in two countries when you compare how many murders occur in those two countries. Murders in Mexico are also more likely to be random and involve unrelated bystanders.

 

[AndreBas]

You can't just ignore the number of people that live in two countries when you compare how many murders occur in those two countries.

Compare the figures: Some US cities have higher murder rates than Monterrey.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Compare the figures: Some US cities have higher murder rates than Monterrey.

Yes. 1. One US city has a murder rate in excess of Monterrey.

 

[AndreBas]

Yes. 1. One US city has a murder rate in excess of Monterrey.

Would you travel to Detroit?

When was the last time you visited Monterrey?

 

[Tat2dHeart]

I don't know... for some reason this sounds like an internet story ...
at any rate, the world isn't very safe, but one thing I have found wherever I go is that there are good and bad people.
See all you brave folks out on the road, cheers!

I don't make stuff up for the drama. My life has enough on its own. But you are right about one thing. There are good people and bad people everywhere - and in many of my trips south of the border, I've met a lot of nice people, so that one bad incident won't stop me from going back.

 

[Mystic Michael]

Compare the figures: Some US cities have higher murder rates than Monterrey.

Ya just won't let it go, will you?

OK.

Based on these supplied numbers, the United States in its entirety has a murder rate of about 4.83%. Mexico in its entirely has a murder rate of about 8.43%.

Based on these same numbers, Mexico has only about 36% of the population of the United States...but it has about 63% of the number of murders that the United States has.

How's that for figures?

MM

 

[AndreBas]

How's that for figures?

Nobody here has ever answered my questions about if they have been to Monterrey. Have you played gigs in Mexico? Wouldn't you play in Brazil because the statistics show it has a higher murder rate than the US (and than Mexico)?

I live in country with a higher murder rate than Mexico and I go to work every day by bike, carrying a bass on my back.

 

[pmchenry]

The US smells more and more like a culture of fear to me. Lighten up, take a risk, see the world.

 

[behndy]

i've travelled bunches. love it. love seeing new places and meeting people that came up different than i have. some of my favorite memories are little interactions that have happened bouncing around different spots. my wife and i went to Mexico (Xuaca (probably MANGLED that spelling) and Mexicio City) right before the latest wave of badness jumped off. had a great time.

so, no, did not go to Monterey, but i HAVE visited Mexico. and i wouldn't go out there right now. too much madness, too many reports of innocence caught in the cross-fire. not saying anything about the people at all, everybody i talked to were just normal human beings, some awesome, some meh, some butt-heads.

but i'm not afraid to travel. love it. just have to be safe.

 

[Richard G]

my buddies from Nausea los angeles will be doing a stop over there in October D.F. MEX.....in fact another friend of mine is vacationing over there....stay thirsty my friends!..one of the guys in the band has another band and plays in Monterrey once in a while...(dia de la muertos is the name of his other band)

 

[guy n. cognito]

The US smells more and more like a culture of fear to me. Lighten up, take a risk, see the world.

Well, golly, you've inspired me. I'm heading to Iraq to try some hiking!!

 

[pmchenry]

Well, golly, you've inspired me. I'm heading to Iraq to try some hiking!!

As someone who spent 2 tours in Iraq with the 101st Airborne, I think I'm qualified to make the statement I did. The world is full of scary things, sure. But if you let them limit your experiences then what's the point of living in the first place?