Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador insisted on Monday that his country is safer than the United States, despite the recent deadly kidnapping of a group of Americans.
“Why this paranoia?” Lopez Obrador said when asked by reporters about the US government’s recommendation to avoid traveling to — or exercise increased precaution in — most of the country.
“Mexico is safer than the United States and there’s no problem to travel through Mexico safely,” he said.
The comments follow the abduction on March 3 of four US citizens, two of whom were killed, after crossing the border into northeastern Mexico, apparently so that one could undergo cosmetic surgery.
Five suspected drug cartel members have been arrested for the crimes of kidnapping and homicide following the incident in Tamaulipas state, officials said Friday.
Mexican authorities believe the drug traffickers mistook the Americans for rivals and shot at them when they tried to escape.
The Latin American country is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen around 350,000 people murdered since the government deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.
Tamaulipas is among six of Mexico’s 32 states that the US government warns against visiting due to the risk of murder, kidnapping and other crimes.
The US State Department website advises Americans to reconsider travel to seven other states, and to exercise increased caution when visiting 17 states.
Only Campeche and Yucatan, in southeastern Mexico, are considered safe to visit with normal precautions.
