Our entire experience of Mexico has been of a very tranquil country, with wonderful people. We haven't had to worry about our safety anywhere (except on the roads, of course, and you've already read about our safety situation on the road, or will below). It doesn't feel like we have to do much at all to keep our stuff safe, and we've had absolutely no issues with our personal safety; knock on wood.

That said, we also read the newspapers. And Mexico is in big trouble with its/our narco-trafficking problem (since the US is the primary consumer, it's a problem shared by both the US and Mexico). Big trouble. Even when you factor in that the media is fascinated with the subject and maybe they've overblown it, you still have daily assassinations of policemen, more than 1000 in the country so far this year. It seems that every day somewhere in the country a dismembered human head will be delivered to a police station with a "narcomessage" threat. Observers think that some parts of the police are clearly compromised by the drug traffickers. And reporters (print and media) are also being targeted at a rate almost as high as anywhere in the world. (Remember that all our information is coming from the newspapers. And remember what you learn from the your local papers: If you just watch the news and read the newspapers you'll think that murders and shootings are happening everywhere on every corner, even in your neighborhood, and they're not.)

We have not talked with a single person who has been directly impacted by this horror, so it's doesn't seem to be the daily experience of average Mexicans. However, the newspapers certainly indicate a nationwide problem, even if you factor in their sensationalism.

My opinion is that Mexico has a huge problem that threatens seriously its law enforcement, judicial system, and freedom of the press. We haven't (yet?) been to Colombia, but it seems like if you continue on the path that Mexico is currently on, you end up with what I imagine Colombia has, a completely compromised government and judicial system. We hope that Mexico can find another path.

REMEMBER: We haven't talked with a single person in Mexico who has been directly affected by this cancer.