"Is it safe?" - A personal perspective on Mexican drug violence

You see it on the news almost every day. Last Friday, 14 people gunned down in wanton violence. One week earlier, 4 police officers die in cold blood at the hands of a convicted drug dealer. Saturday morning, word comes of more bloodshed as several other officers in another town are shot. Three of those police officers are dead.

Yes, the border along the U.S.-Mexican has become ground zero for the war on drugs, the violence well documented in print and in broadcasts. But the tragic incidents mentioned above --- the 14 citizens murdered, seven police officers slain --- did not happen in dusty crime plagued Mexican border towns. They happened in the United States ... in Binghamton, NY, Oakland, CA, and now Pittsburgh, PA. That is not to say that Mexico is not without its violence. But as in the U.S., it is a question of to what degree it directly impacts our day to day lives. For us, the answer is very little, if at all.

Last year, more than 6000 people were murdered in Mexico in drug related violence. The bulk of those killings took place along the northern border towns such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, and in the inland city of Culiacan where we stayed on our drive down here last year. Other than encountering an army of police at a gas station who provided us directions to our hotel, we had no clue we were in the middle of a city known for its assault on the drug trade. We slept well that night.

The violence in Mexico has changed the landscape across the country. Mainly, it has resulted in a large scale increase of military and police presence all over the country, including vacation resorts like Puerto Vallarta. As we take a stroll through town or drive to the grocery store, it is now not unusual to see scores of stoic officers and army soldiers, dressed in black SWAT-like uniforms, AK-47s at the ready, walking the streets and patrolling in pick-up trucks. They are short in conversation, barely nodding their heads when you extend a friendly "hola." They are serious in their mission, which to them can turn deadly with little notice. While some may find their infiltration of our beach side community intimidating, for me, it provides a sense of assurance.

It is difficult to accurately gauge what impact those images, along with the real violence that is occurring elsewhere, are having on local tourism. I know it is not nearly as difficult to get reservations in popular restaurants, and indeed, when you talk with merchants, they complain about in decline in tourism (they tend to blame the economy more than the violence). But figures just released by the Mexican Tourism Board show visitation is actually up by 2% for the first quarter of this year. And this week, throngs of vacationers are expected to be arriving here for the annual spring break pilgrimage the next two weeks.

We are frequently asked by friends and family back in the U.S., "Is it safe there where you are." "Yes, for the most part it is." So far we personally have not witnessed anything near what is splashed across the TV screens and printed in the newspapers.

However, though the violence gripping border towns is nearly non-existent in Puerto Vallarta, it is not fair to say this is a completely safe town. Last year, a police officer was murdered when he was stopped in his car at a red light north of Puerto Vallarta. I never heard of a motive or if suspects were arrested. Last month, a Bay Area man staying with his wife in a condominium on the the beach was stabbed to death by an intruder. And you do hear of the occasional car jacking. But I have to keep in mind that when I was a reporter in Northern California, these are the types of stories I would cover fairly regularly ... and that was the U.S. (Actually, carjackings and murders became so common place, we rarely covered them unless they had wider implications).

The Mexican Tourism Board, fearful that the recent news reports may be hampering travel to this country is launching a new campaign. The message is that Mexico is still largely safe when you get away from the border. And at least for now, it is a bargain. The strongest dollar to peso exchange rate in two decades has effectively reduced the cost of a Mexican vacation by around 30%. But tourism may hinge on more than a good marketing campaign.

The State Department warning that parts of Mexico are too dangerous for travel puts into question the security of the entire country. If similar reasoning was implemented by other countries based on recent incidents in Binghamton, Oakland, Pittsburgh (and going back even farther to Virginia Tech and Columbine), one might conclude that travel to the U.S. is likewise unsafe. Perspective and common sense are needed.