Many foreign tourists are concerned about the rise in crime in Mexico, scaring them off from visiting the country. Extended media coverage, specially in the USA, has risen the insecurity perception, but sometimes the media is missing a more thorough analysis.
The murder and kidnapping rate are rising, that is an undeniable fact. Murder rate had gone down from 17 murders per 100.000 inhabitants in 1997, to some 10/100.000 in 2007, but since then it has been growing, and is now estimated at 12-15/100.000. To give it some perspective, the murder rate in USA is now around 5.5/100.000, and in Western Europe some 1/100.000. So an American can say “if I go to Mexico I will have twice the chance of being killed”, while an European would say “If I travel to the USA, I will have 5 times more probabilities of being killed”. Continue reading »
