# Safety confusion



## 863218 (May 3, 2015)

Hi, my name is David. My wife Teri and I are going to spend a week or so in Mazatlan to get the feel of the place. if it seems comfortable to us, plan to come back for a 6 month stay and then decide if we want to retire in Mexico or just spend time there occasionally.

I am gung ho, but we are a team, and a move would have to be a joint decision. 

Now to the real point of this post. We are both reading the Peoples Guide to Mexico and reading posts on Expat Forum.
From what we are reading it appears that you Expats travel without a lot concern about the violence and kidnappings that we read about on the State Department web site. If the State Department warnings are to be believed, most of Mexico is a very dangerous place and one faces real danger 
traveling around the country.

I am an old guy, and was in the Peace Corps teaching High School in Nigeria when their Civil war started, and stayed for the duration. Even though I was supposed to stay at my post, I traveled pretty freely in about half of the country, and avoided the war zone, so I know that the government can be a little anal retentive on this subject. I would have a lot more confidence in your experiences than the view of a bureaucrat.

We would appreciate the benefit of your experience. 

Thank you for any insight you can share with us. 
Maybe we will cross paths in Mexico

David &Teri


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

COSENS said:


> From what we are reading it appears that you Expats travel without a lot concern about the violence and kidnappings that we read about on the State Department web site. If the State Department warnings are to be believed, most of Mexico is a very dangerous place and one faces real danger
> traveling around the country.


I think you've misread or misunderstood the U.S. Department of State travel warnings for Mexico and the sentiments of the wide body of expats who are in Mexico.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

While there are many dangers in Mexico, take 5 minutes to think about the dangers in the place where you live, what if there were warnings about those? Would you still live there? Would you recommend anyone to visit?
Same thing here


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

From what you've described about your life experiences, I gather that you know where not to be at the wrong time. You'll do fine here. Those who don't get into the drug trade as customers or gang members, or who don't party late at some of the hot spots, should be able to find a nice life here.

I've been here almost 11 years with no problem. Those State Dept. warnings are probably useful for the unwary, but I've noticed that they don't warn about trouble spots in the U.S..

Advice: Be sure and consult year around weather reports for the places you think you might like.
We were seriously considering Mazatlan until we did so. Too hot and humid for us, but YMMV.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

COSENS said:


> Hi, my name is David. My wife Teri and I are going to spend a week or so in Mazatlan to get the feel of the place. if it seems comfortable to us, plan to come back for a 6 month stay and then decide if we want to retire in Mexico or just spend time there occasionally.
> 
> I am gung ho, but we are a team, and a move would have to be a joint decision.
> 
> ...




I can tell you this, David. We retired here in 2001 because our first choice of Highland Colombia was in a state of civil war. Here it is 14 years later and we own homes at Lake Chapala and in the Chiapas Highlands. We are fully invested here in real estate and emotionally and there are many wonderful things about Mexico from climate to human diversity. Would I move here today to this country approaching anarchy? No chance. Why would you move to a place basically ruled by criminal cartels and corrupt governmental authorities extending from the backwoods to Mexico City? I happen to be Mexican Citizen and will always remain so but if I were still in San Francisco deciding on where to retire as I was in 2000 and things as they are now with uncontrolled, ugly violence which is widespead here, no way would I move here to reside.

Let me ask you a question. If you are living here and a victim of any kind of violence in Mexico, to whom do you turn for protection? The cops and municipal authorities, the hospital attendants, the retaill merchants, the army, the church authorirites, the federal pólice and on and on are all corrupt from the bottom to the top. Here is the answer: You have no recourse so you pay your "mordido" (bribe) and go home and, by the way, if you let the cops into your house for any reason they will steal you blind so if we are burglarized we never let the local cops into our home because they will liift anything left on premise. 

Who the hell would voluntarily move here?


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hound Dog said:


> [/I]
> 
> I can tell you this, David. We retired here in 2001 because our first choice of Highland Colombia was in a state of civil war. Here it is 14 years later and we own homes at Lake Chapala and in the Chiapas Highlands. We are fully invested here in real estate and emotionally and there are many wonderful things about Mexico from climate to human diversity. Would I move here today to this country approaching anarchy? No chance. Why would you move to a place basically ruled by criminal cartels and corrupt governmental authorities extending from the backwoods to Mexico City? I happen to be Mexican Citizen and will always remain so but if I were still in San Francisco deciding on where to retire as I was in 2000 and things as they are now with uncontrolled, ugly violence which is widespead here, no way would I move here to reside.
> 
> ...


Well sir I have just set up a screen to exclude my either seeing or responding to your posts in the future.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Cuerna 1; As a former resident of Los Angeles, CA as well some some country environs in other places where your body would be cold before the police arrived to deal with the meth head who done it, there may be safety somewhere, but I haven't encountered it. Some of the most horrendous crimes occur in the most unlikely places.

I think Hound Dog is drifting into the unpleasant state which occurs then the civilizing influence in his family unit has been absent too long.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


cuerna1 said:



Well sir I have just set up a screen to exclude my either seeing or responding to your posts in the future.

Click to expand...

_Ignorance is bliss.


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