There is no peace in La Paz

[Doyle Phillips]

It has been many a year since i was there and it was o so nice but now...

BCS now on U.S. travel advisory
Homicide numbers in La Paz put the state on the warning list


Baja California Sur has joined the list of states that are areas of concern as far as the United States government is concerned.

The U.S. State Department issued an updated travel warning for Mexico on December 24 and included the state that is home to some popular tourist destinations, such as Cabo San Lucas.

Urging travelers to exercise caution when visiting La Paz, the state capital, the warning said that in 2013 the state recorded its highest number of homicides since 1997, and many of those occurred in that city.

The states of Guerrero and Mexico were also noted for being potentially dangerous. In the case of the former visitors are advised to stick to Acapulco, Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo but to avoid accessing them by road.

Travelers are warned to avoid non-essential trips to Coacalco, Ecatepec, Nezahualcóyotl, La Paz, Valle del Chalco, Solidaridad, Chalco, Ixtapaluca and Tlatlaya in the State of México.

The states of Campeche, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Tlaxcala and Yucatán are not subject to security concerns, the warning said.
- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/bcs-now-...FiXDR.dpuf

[Arthaey]

Huh. I was just in La Paz (and driving through all the rest of BC & BCS) this November. We never felt unsafe.

Were we just naive? Or is this another case of the US State Department being overly cautious in its warnings? I tend to suspect the latter, especially since the state warning doesn't say *who* was murdered — cartel violence? domestic violence? or is it truly random and thus tourists could be victims too?

For example, when I clicked through the link above, it pointed to a news article about 2 killings on November 26th in La Paz. My husband and I happened to be in La Paz on that date, but in the area we were staying (directly next to the bus terminal, near the malecón) we saw no signs of anything unsafe. The article there even says, "law enforcement officials have said the wave of violence is the result of a territorial dispute between drug cartel."

Not that Mexicans being murdered isn't concerning! But is this US State Department warning due to an increased risk *to tourists*?

I'd love to hear from someone who has spent more than the 3 days in La Paz that we did, for a better perspective.

[doncoulter]

Arthaey,

The original post in this thread is exaggerated. "There is no peace in La Paz" is not the wording of the State Department but rather the extremely hyperbolic conclusion of Guanajuato's beloved embassy warden. He apparently feels that the bland prose of the State Department needs to be jazzed up. Also, instead of linking to the State Department warning, he links to a news article. There is no mention in the original warning of a "wave of violence."

The actual State Department warning is here: http://travel.state.gov/content/passport...rning.html. As you can see, it's pretty restrained. All it says about La Paz is this: "Exercise caution in the state capital of La Paz. According to the Department of Interior of Mexico, in 2013 Baja California Sur registered its highest homicide rate since 1997. Many of these homicides occurred in La Paz, where there has been an increase in organized crime-related violence." That doesn't seem "overly cautious" to me but straightforward and to the point. Although it lacks some of the detail you would like, at no point does it say La Paz is "unsafe."

Perhap the warden should turn in his poetic license? :)

Don

[jesm]

The Warden should stick to solely sharing official US governmental communications and directives, without editoralizing or adding personal comments or opinions. We can draw our own conclusions or get hyperbole from CNN or Faux News.

[peddler665]

Have not been to La Paz since December '98. At that time it lived up to it's name.
Sorry to hear it's not the same.