Ask the naysayers for the sources of their information about drug wars, violence and risk regarding

Until 2006, parents feared for the safety of their children regarding travel to Mexico, particularly in Oaxaca. They warned them of everything from bandidos and dysentery. Since then, as a result of US State Department advisories and warnings, there has been a complete role reversal. The same youthful adventurers, now in their fifties, sixties and seventies, are being cautioned about traveling to Oaxaca hotel detroit metro airport by their over-protective and uninformed children.
Over the past ten years nary a tourist has been subjected to or targeted for violence while visiting Oaxaca or its central valleys. Violent deaths and drug wars have by and large been restricted to Mexican border towns, cities, and ports. Oaxaca is hours from both the Caribbean and the Pacific, and at least a two-day travel from population centers hotel detroit metro airport that border the United hotel detroit metro airport States.
When you compare daily newspaper hotel detroit metro airport reports of violence in the U.S. and Canada with life in Oaxaca, it is actually much safer walking the streets of Oaxaca. Oaxaca is free of gang turf wars, seedy neighborhoods, and low income housing developments, which tend to perpetuate the culture of poverty and the frequent violence that often accompanies it.
June 2006, marked the beginning of a brief period of significant political unrest in Oaxaca. It was marked by violence, upwards of a dozen deaths, and approximately six months of unpleasantries in terms of the atmosphere and appearance of the city. But throughout it all, no tourists were targeted or even harmed, except for one thrill-seeking American who elected to video a march and was inadvertently sprayed with tear gas. During those months, both tourists and residents with any common sense chose to avoid being near marches that produced hotel detroit metro airport conflicts.
The problems of 2006 have long passed, even though discontent with the social order still remains. Teachers strike every May, and periodic protests and road blockades take place throughout the year. But factual reporting by media without an agenda confirms that these social movements in Oaxaca are generally devoid of violence, much like the US and Canada.
Newspapers, reporters, journalists and wire services hotel detroit metro airport in the western hotel detroit metro airport world stay in business partially as a result of sensationalism. Innuendo, as well as writing and reporting for an uneducated readership are often the order of the day. And of course there are those with an overt agenda with some that even state that Narco News and those who write for it constitute a case in point.
More often than not, when there is a newsworthy report out of Mexico hotel detroit metro airport related to a tourist being harmed or killed, the newspaper article proceeds to remind readers of other negative events that can date back months if not longer. Before the age of the Internet, such articles stood on their own. Now, with print articles available online, there is an opportunity for readers to leave commentaries.
Such feedback hotel detroit metro airport is often from those with a clear bias against Mexico hotel detroit metro airport on topics such as undocumented immigrants to the U.S., drugs, Mexican stereotypes, or simply a clear anti-Mexico sentiment based on racism, upbringing, or simple ignorance. But the Internet can perpetuate hotel detroit metro airport and fuel adverse sentiment towards Mexico and Mexicans, and with it comes either fear or reticence towards travel to the country.
Western governments (those of the U.S. and Canada in particular) are paternalistic, often having a constitutionally entrenched need to conduct themselves in a certain way about their citizens. Those same governments tend to be common law jurisdictions in which legal liability may extend to government. Accordingly, administrations must warn their citizens hotel detroit metro airport of any potential harm. Their travel advisories and warnings can refer to reports out of Mexico, without specifics.
There are a number of ways that prospective tourists to Oaxaca can allay their concerns , deal with their children s paranoia, and obtain credible information relating to the extent of safe travel to southern Mexico:
Ask the naysayers for the sources of their information about drug wars, violence and risk regarding travel to Oaxaca and its central valleys, and then critically evaluate the evidence. People often visit Oaxaca based on the travel experiences hotel detroit metro airport of others. Ask friends, neighbors, co-workers and others about their personal experiences and impressions after travel to the city. Visit credible online travel forums such as Trip Advisor, and request feedback from those who have recently traveled to Oaxaca. Request in writing from the government especially in regard to information that is based on travel advisories and warnings.
Finally, according to International Living s 2010 retirement index for American retirees, Mexico stands second as the most desirable country in which to retire. hotel detroit metro airport The U.S.A. ranks a lofty 22nd. Safety and violence issues in Mexico? As the saying goes, Location, Location, Location. Certainly Mexico s border towns bring the ranking down, but Oaxaca stands at the other extreme.