Chaos in Mexico

I was in the Guadalajara in the summer.  My first trip to Mexico.  Loved it.  Seemed very safe.  This is the first I'm hearing about this.   

I see the U.S. is touting our involvement and how significant the guy's death is.  Of course it's meaningless.  A new guy replaces the old guy (or a different cartel moves in on the territory of the wounded cartel).  People want drugs and it will be supplied.

We stopped traveling to Mexico several years ago. It's just not worth the risk.

Sad. I loved Mexico. Once upon a time I thought I would live there. Beautiful country, beautiful people.

The Mexican cartels exist because of America’s inability to effectively fight drug addiction. Everything we’ve been doing for decades has been useless. 

It's not drug addiction alone but drug use combined with the endless mindless useless and staggeringly expensive war on drugs that has created cartels and the violent illicit drug trade. 

Portugal completely decriminalized drug use and here's what happened:

  Drug Decriminalization in Portugal:
Learning from a Health and Human-
Centered Approach
Portugal has received global attention for its
groundbreaking and comprehensive drug
decriminalization program launched in 2001 in
response to a public health crisis. In 1999, Portugal
had the highest rate of drug-related AIDS in the
European Union, the second highest prevalence of
HIV among people who inject drugs, and drug
overdose deaths were rapidly increasing.
Since Portugal ceased criminalizing drug use, the
results have been dramatic.1 The number of people
voluntarily entering treatment has increased
significantly, while overdose deaths, HIV
infections, problematic drug use, and incarceration
for drug-related offenses have plummeted.
__________________________________

bub, I agree with you. I went for brevity in my statement which led to oversimplification. The war on drugs has been a disaster. 

I won’t be surprised if this happened here in the states. This way we would all feel justified into invading Mexico….

My cousin lives in a small town about 1/2 hour south of Guadalajara that has a lot of ex-pat Americans.  Says the immediate area has been quiet but he's on the lookout.   

My cousin from Toronto is there on vacation. She's on lockdown in her hotel, hoping to be able to leave on Wednesday. 

I think it is still safe.  You just need to study the travel warnings and plan accordingly.  Some cities are best avoided.  Others, like Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende, to name two, are fine.

edited to add:  Having said that, I think I would hold off on travel to Mexico until thing settled down a bit.

Former neighbors are on lockdown in Tuluum!