You would think from media reports that traveling to Mexico is a good way to get decapitated. But technically, that’s only true if you’re a law enforcement official in a border state. The AP points out that in fact, the murder rate in Mexico has been falling since 1997, when it reached a high of 17 murders per 100,000 people.
The murder rate in Mexico today is 14 per 100,000 people, and in Mexico City, it’s only 9 per 100,000 people. That’s comparable to L.A., and significantly better than Washington, D.C., where the murder rate is 30 per 100,000.
I can testify to the relative safeness of Mexico City from personal experience. Last year I spent 10 days there and did not come back dead. Instead, I enjoyed many hours wandering around the Centro Historico, looking at the architecture, and eating everything I could find. I visited nearby pyramids, went to a play, and hung out with friends in several other historic neighborhoods. It was one of the best vacations of my life.
Of course, they occasionally kill someone and sew his face to a soccer ball, but for you as a tourist, this only means your plane ticket will be cheaper because all the other Americans are scared out of their minds.
If Mexico still sounds too risky for you, that’s OK, but you sure as hell better forget about the 2016 Olympics. Last anyone released official statistics, the murder rate in Brazil was 24 per 100,000 people.
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]
The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]
From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]
Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]
This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.
The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]
Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]
The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]
From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]
Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]
The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]
Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]
Safety in numbers
Visit Mexico! (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
You would think from media reports that traveling to Mexico is a good way to get decapitated. But technically, that’s only true if you’re a law enforcement official in a border state. The AP points out that in fact, the murder rate in Mexico has been falling since 1997, when it reached a high of 17 murders per 100,000 people.
The murder rate in Mexico today is 14 per 100,000 people, and in Mexico City, it’s only 9 per 100,000 people. That’s comparable to L.A., and significantly better than Washington, D.C., where the murder rate is 30 per 100,000.
I can testify to the relative safeness of Mexico City from personal experience. Last year I spent 10 days there and did not come back dead. Instead, I enjoyed many hours wandering around the Centro Historico, looking at the architecture, and eating everything I could find. I visited nearby pyramids, went to a play, and hung out with friends in several other historic neighborhoods. It was one of the best vacations of my life.
Of course, they occasionally kill someone and sew his face to a soccer ball, but for you as a tourist, this only means your plane ticket will be cheaper because all the other Americans are scared out of their minds.
If Mexico still sounds too risky for you, that’s OK, but you sure as hell better forget about the 2016 Olympics. Last anyone released official statistics, the murder rate in Brazil was 24 per 100,000 people.
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