Violence in Mexico

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

After spending a month in the heart of Mexico, in the state of Jalisco, in 2010, and a week in San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato, in October, 2015, and after talking to dozens of expatriates from the United States, Canada, and Europe, I feel confident that the information I'm about to impart is reliable and unbiased.

A typical street in this UNESCO World Heritage City.

The answer to the question about violence is documented in an incident I managed to videotape in 2010, which is still relevant today. This tape briefly but accurately depicts the violence most expats will experience directly or indirectly in Mexico. Please take a moment now to click on the link and see the mayhem for yourself.

A Month in Mexico - Violence!

When David and I first considered house sitting in Mexico for a month this summer, everyone we knew in the United States advised against it. There were government warnings, drug lords shooting it out in the streets, innocent people being slaughtered in rifle crossfire, and folks succumbing to the H1N1 flu.  Had we taken leave of our senses?  

Our friends, for the most part, were too polite to ask those particular questions, but, believe me, we could tell from the horrified expressions on their faces that those were the questions they were thinking.  I confess that, after watching the nightly news and CNN reports, David and I had a few misgivings of our own.

We've been in Ajijic for ten days now. Have we seen violence? Absolutely.  Have there been vicious attacks? On an hourly basis.  Are we afraid.  Certainly not.