The President of Mexico stated on Monday that his country is safer than the United States, responding to those in his own country who have criticized his security record in the wake of a kidnapping that occurred earlier this month close to the border that resulted in the deaths of two American citizens.
The assault that took place on March 3 on four United States citizens in the city of Matamoros in Mexico, followed by their kidnapping, was extensively covered by the media in the United States and generated recriminations from lawmakers in the United States, mainly Republicans.
When Mexican officials finally located the Americans, two of them were already deceased when they were discovered. Since then, five people who are believed to be part of a Mexican drug gang have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping.
The official travel advisories issued by the United States paint a large portion of Mexico as a dangerous place to go, but President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador disagrees with this assessment. He has threatened to encourage Mexican-Americans not to vote for Republican candidates if they continue their criticism.
“Mexico is safer than the United States,” he told reporters when questioned about the warnings at a news conference. “There’s no problem with traveling safely around Mexico.”
Lopez Obrador stated both American tourists and Mexicans living in the United States were aware of how safe the country is, and he pointed to a recent spike in the number of Americans choosing to make Mexico their permanent home. The number of tourists coming from the United States to Mexico showed a significant increase the year before.
He blamed negative allegations regarding security on a “anti-Mexico” campaign being waged by conservative lawmakers in the United States. The United States Embassy in Mexico did not provide a reaction in response to a request for one about the remarks made by the President.
According to data that was published by the World Bank in 2020, the rate of homicide in Mexico was around four times greater than that of the United States, which was at 28 per 100,000 inhabitants. Mexico saw a decrease of almost seven percent in the number of homicides committed in 2018, but the country’s current government is on course to set a new high for any administration’s first six years in office.
The State Department of the United States of America has assigned varied levels of travel risk to 30 of Mexico’s 32 different regions. In addition to the kidnappings, the authorities in the United States report that two women from the state of Texas have been missing in Mexico since the end of February, when they went across the border to attend a flea fair to sell clothes.
The sisters Marina Perez Rios, 48, and Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, along with their Mexican friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, have not been seen or heard from since February 27, according to a spokesperson for the police in Penitas, which is located near McAllen. The FBI has been made aware of the situation.
In the meantime, police in the state of Guanajuato, which is located in the center of Mexico and has been plagued by significant gang violence, have stated that seven women, including a group of six women, have been reported missing in the state during the course of the past week.
Additionally, a representative for the state’s prosecutors reported that ten people were killed in an incident that took place on Saturday night in a bar in the town of Apaseo El Grande, Guanajuato. The attackers were armed with firearms. According to the official, there were initially reported to be eight fatalities, but since then, two additional persons who were injured in the incident have passed away.
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