U.S. issues new travel advisory for Mexico as murders and kidnappings

Kidnapping av turister er helt klart noe som foregår både i Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras og mange andre land som jeg skal kjøre gjennom. Bare i løpet av 6 mnd. fikk den Amerikanske ambassade melding om 70 kidnappinger. De fleste tilfelles løses ved at man betaler løsepenger, men dessverre er det ikke alle situasjoner som ender lykkelig av den grunn. Så vidt jeg har klart å finne ut dekker ikke Norske forsikringer kidnapping så hvis man er bekymret bør man vurdere å gå for en utenlandsk forsikring som også dekker dette. De tallene jeg sitter med er at det ble meldt om totalt over 1400 kidnappinger i Mexico i løpet av 2013.

Ett annet problem man skal være klar over er landevei tyver. Det sies at det er tryggest på motorveiene, men skal man kjøre motorsykkel i disse landene er det ikke motorveier man oppsøker. En hovedklar oppfordring må være å ikke kjøre etter mørkets frembrudd og at man ikke stopper for å hjelpe folk som ser ut til å trenge hjelp langs veien.

Leste denne teksten på MexicoNewsDaily

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The United States government has issued a new travel warning for visitors to Mexico, advising that security threats are posed by organized crime in certain areas.

Travelers should avoid trips that aren’t strictly necessary to the state of Tamaulipas, border areas of Michoacán, apart from the cities of Morelia and Lázaro Cárdenas, and border zones of Piedras Negras and Nuevo Laredo in Coahuila.

The same recommendation is in force for Zacatecas and Nayarit, bordering Sinaloa, where only Mazatlán is deemed safe.

Border zones between Aguascalientes and Zacatecas are also danger areas, as well as commercial areas of Ciudad Juárez and industrial parks in Chihuahua. Sonora being a key area in international drug trafficking, it can be “extremely dangerous” for travelers, the advisory continues, in the area west of Nogales.

The report says 81 Americans were assassinated in Mexico last year, 10 more than in 2012, and an increase in kidnappings was noted in the states of Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Mexico and Morelos.

During the first six months of this year the American embassy and consulates in Mexico received 70 reports of kidnappings of American citizens. Kidnappings were of the traditional kind, in which victims are physically removed from their surroundings, as well as “virtual,” in which the victim is detained in his hotel until payment is received.

The warning also said theft of vehicles using violence and thefts on highways are also “a serious problem” in many border areas, and there are cases in which Americans have lost their lives.

The U.S. government urges travelers in vehicles to travel by day, avoid remote highways and use toll highways where possible.

There is no advisory in effect for the states of Baja California, Campeche, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quinta Roo, Tabasco, Tlaxcala, Yucatán and D.F. The warning is the first to be issued since last January.