How Safe Is Mexico?

[Mexdon]

Originally Posted by markpierce

My impression is that in Mexico, you will be defenseless if you obey its law. In California, you are able to defend your life with deadly force. Which is rather surprising.

Quite correct. In Mexico there is no legal defense of self defense. if you hurt or kill someone who is trying to kill you,you will be charged and found guilty. You have no legal right to protect yourself your home or your property. According to the interpretation of the law the offender has the right to rob you, assault you or kill you but you have no right to defend yourself. This information was given to me by a criminal lawyer in Mexico when I asked him the question after my wife had been stabbed and I chased the attackers but did not catch them.

Also there is no such thing as accidental homicide such as a car accident, even if it was not your fault and the other person dies you are charged with murder.

[sarafina]

Welcome to the Napoleonic code...

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by sarafina

Welcome to the Napoleonic code...

isnt this the case of mnost of the world-- and usa used to be apart from the rest in this matter-- we have been spoiled in usa for 200+ years, allowing our bears to be armed. the problem in this lies in leaving and EXPECTING the rest of the world to go along with usa standards, which they do NOT....only coverage by usa constitution is spozed to be us citizens within usa. is important to respect the cultures and values of the nations being visited. loss of life and freedoms can and will result from demanding the policies held in usa to be held in other nations.

[dpons]

Originally Posted by zeehag

isnt this the case of mnost of the world-- and usa used to be apart from the rest in this matter-- we have been spoiled in usa for 200+ years, allowing our bears to be armed. the problem in this lies in leaving and EXPECTING the rest of the world to go along with usa standards, which they do NOT....only coverage by usa constitution is spozed to be us citizens within usa. is important to respect the cultures and values of the nations being visited. loss of life and freedoms can and will result from demanding the policies held in usa to be held in other nations.

Here (Uruguay) you can only claim self-defense if 1) you didn't not cause in any way the incident, 2) you did not find any other reasonable way of dealing with the threat and 3) your life was threatened by the actions (perceived intentions don't count) of the aggressor, that is defense of property does not count.

Even so, there is a lot of people armed, and quite a few people in jail for killing thieves, mostly for shooting them in the back.

[bangkaboat]

How safe is Mexico? Well, from what I've experienced in years gone by & from reading the posts of cruisers, there could be:
drug/alcohol fueled trouble makers
fugitives from justice doing what they can to survive
pirates, poachers & other "never-do-well's"

But, enough about cruisers, as for the locals...

Mexico isn't some safe haven, by any means. Lots of innocent travellers & business persons have been robbed, raped, shot, stabbed, imprisoned, etc., over the years. I often read/hear about the same misconceptions - safe for foreigners -regarding "hot" areas of Mindanao, in the Southern Philippines. Part of this seems to be the perception of people from specific countries. Usually, it appears that it is Americans suggesting that such areas are safe, but one must remember that - compared to Canada, most areas of Europe, Aus & NZ, etc. - the U.S. has much more crime. So, the usual rules of international travel prevail. It is usually safer in daytime, than at night. One should learn from others the safe/unsafe areas of town(ZeeHag wrote a great post on this, regarding gang activity around Maz & Acapulco). It is better to travel in groups, or with a buddy, than alone. Flashing signs of wealth is looking for trouble. Better to keep one's temper & walk away, report scams/attempted scams to dept. of tourism instead of trying to address them yourself. Don't buy/do anything illegal. In other words, keep it clean & calm, fly under the radar, mind your own business, & be suspicious, yet, not paranoid. In regard to intl. travel, it has been my experience that witnessing "paradise" isn't always easy, but has always been worth the effort and/or risk.

[markpierce]

Don't flash wealth. If you must have a watch, sport a Timex. Avoid wearing jewlery.

[zeehag]

it seems that mexico is so very unsafe that princess cruises is ADDING this venue, mazatlan, back to the ports they serve. cruise ships returning next year!!!!! there will again be turistas in mazatlan. is a very good thing-- the mazaltecos have been worried about economy here, as much of their income here is from turistas. good work!!!!
and marina mazatlan is adding more slips.

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by sarafina

Welcome to the Napoleonic code...

Sorry to contradict but self defense exist in the so called Napoleonic code
Alec

[Mexdon]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

Sorry to contradict but self defense exist in the so called Napoleonic code
Alec

Maybe, but here in Mexico the judge corrupt or otherwise decides what is a defense and there are plenty of people inside who had that defense.....just don't try it in Mexico.

[John A]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

Sorry to contradict but self defense exist in the so called Napoleonic code
Alec

Legally you're correct. And this applies to citizens, and generally not to residents or toursits. In most countries a citizen may own a gun, a resident (green card) or toursits may not.
The biggest hang-up about the Napoleonic Code is that your guility until proven innocent.
Johni

[capn_billl]

Just because it is possible to travel safely in a country doesn't means that the country is "safe".

A corrupt police and violence from the drug trade means that if you do run into trouble, you are most likely on your own.

An Acapulco resort was recently overun by armed men, and several, including tourists were killed in the shootout. In most cases I would say the resorts are "safe", but in this case I would be wrong. Are the resorts not hit yet "safe"??? Maybe, maybe they will be in a shootout tomorrow, when another turf war starts.

If you don't run into trouble, (law or criminal), every country in the world is "safe".

Every country in the world there are good people that wake up go to work, have kids, go home to their family, and go to sleep. If you interact with these people you will be "safe", until you are robbed or run into trouble with the corrupt police. Then you will wish you were in a country with a stable government that protects people, property, and human rights.