U.S. Travel Advisory for Mexico Remains in Place, but State Dept. Language Is Too Soft

[Jeff Dunsavage]

Spring Breakers who want to take a dip in the Gulf of Mexico south of the border should be reminded of security concerns when visiting Matamoros, according to a U.S. Department of State Spring Break travel advisory.

“Travelers to the Mexican border should be especially aware of safety and security concerns due to increased violence in recent years between rival drug trafficking gangs competing for control of narcotics smuggling routes,” the advisory states.

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The advisory goes on to mitigate its own sense of importance by stating:

“Travelers should exercise common-sense precautions such as visiting only the well-traveled business and tourism areas of border towns during daylight and early-evening hours” with reference to Matamoros and Nuevo Progreso.

For the record, many U.S. travelers and ex-pats have disappeared in Matamoros and disappeared and been murdered in other border towns in recent years, and the U.S. State Department has shown little or no interest in helping them or their families. The Missing Americans Project urges all prospective travelers who find they MUST travel to Mexico to exercise precautions that well exceed what they would consider to be "common sense" in the U.S. or Europe. Mexico is not Key West or Waikiki. Consider going elsewhere.