June 11, 2009 – I’ve been re-reading this entire website as I transferred all the articles to the new format, and I noticed that the levels of danger that people talk about now weren’t on my radar at all several years ago. That is, questions of drug cartels and the like that the American press does report in great detail.

I’ve come across three articles that I think are pertinent. I’ll give them to you in the order that I found them. If you want to cut to the chase, just read the last one.

First, here is an article titled Living with Mexico’s Trauma of Insecurity which is by a Mexican professor who lives in Mexico City and states, “To live in Mexico is to be permanently on alert.”  He tells some stories that would put me on alert too.  This is a disquieting article and not one to be lightly dismissed.

Next, I happened to find an article on the drug wars by an American who lives in a small city, Lerdo, in Durango.  This is no expat haven; Rolly Brook lives with a Mexican family and is up on what is going on around him. His site is widely respected and cited by other expats for its information on many details of Mexican law and culture.

Here’s  his take on the drug wars going on around there. This is a long post and when I was there, it had last been updated this April. It tells many tales, not one of which makes me want to go to Lerdo.

But there is also another page on Rolly’s site which I think is important: his page on personal safety and crime. He gives some statistics on how foreigners have died, other than of natural causes. He comments on the drug wars and goes on to talk about other things you need to take into account, like police misconduct. pickpockets, and more.

Those of us expats who live in the Lake Chapala area do seem to experience more attempted breakins to our houses and cars than we did a while back. Generally, the thieves are unarmed, but not always. They use tricks to distract their victims at times, like pointing at your tire as you are driving, so you think it is going flat. This one they seem to use with solitary women driving along.

Still, compare that to the places most of us came from in the US… Actually, it would be interesting to dig out some statistics comparing crime in Mexico and the US. Of course, not all crimes are reported here… oops, I’m starting that article! Enough for now. Readers, your comments are most welcome on this difficult topic.