Retired couple found murdered at their Mexico home (conversation, best, travel)
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And it's not good to blindly make false equivalences without looking at the domestic or foreign city statistics rather than entire countries as a whole.
For instance, here are some U.S. cities that have higher rates than the murder rate in Mexico you cited:
I don't see threads with dire warnings telling people not to retire to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc., every time someone gets murdered in one of those states, but every time there's a murder of an American in a foreign country, it's suddenly unsafe to live anywhere within that country's borders.
I'm often amazed, on these international house hunting shows, how Americans seem not to notice walls around the property or bars on the windows. They're probably there for a reason! I wouldn't want to be that neighbor everyone resents, either...
First, crimes like murder, rape, and robbery can happen to anyone at any location. If it's you then that is the most unsafe location in the world. The only way we can compare is look at probabilities and overall statistics.
Second, the murder rate in Mexico has been soaring. Defenders love to cherry pick and compare the worst US cities with Mexico overall. But if the US can have an overall rate of 5.4 but range 20-50 in the worst urban areas, then what kind of rates do you suppose Mexico might achieve in it's worst urban areas if it's overall rate is 20.5? Compare apples to apples.
And then there's the matter of crime solving and convictions. In the USA, the clearance rate for murders was over 64% last year while in Mexico it's less than 2%. This complete lack of justice is one reason only 5% of crimes get reported in Mexico, where only 1% of those ever go before a judge, where only 2% of those get convicted. This couple's killers will never get arrested much less convicted, unless Mexico decides it is necessary politically in which case they will "find" someoneto arrest and convict.
First, crimes like murder, rape, and robbery can happen to anyone at any location. If it's you then that is the most unsafe location in the world. The only way we can compare is look at probabilities and overall statistics.
Second, the murder rate in Mexico has been soaring. Defenders love to cherry pick and compare the worst US cities with Mexico overall. But if the US can have an overall rate of 5.4 but range 20-50 in the worst urban areas, then what kind of rates do you suppose Mexico might achieve in it's worst urban areas if it's overall rate is 20.5? Compare apples to apples.
And then there's the matter of crime solving and convictions. In the USA, the clearance rate for murders was over 64% last year while in Mexico it's less than 2%. This complete lack of justice is one reason only 5% of crimes get reported in Mexico, where only 1% of those ever go before a judge, where only 2% of those get convicted. This couple's killers will never get arrested much less convicted, unless Mexico decides it is necessary politically in which case they will "find" someoneto arrest and convict.
I have some other issues. I have no particular reason to believe that the statistics in Mexico are as accurate as those as in America. My hunch is that in a third world country many homicides are not reported or noted as such. In the USA, I suspect the crime statistics are reasonably accurate.
People can retire anywhere they want. However, I wouldn't touch Mexico with a ten foot pole. I don't even vacation there anymore.
I suspect that the entire government has been hopelessly corrupted by drug cartels. If the cartels want someone dead, the police all look the other direction. If the tourist industry is afraid that the true crime statistics will frighten away tourists, I suspect the government in Mexico simply doctors the numbers.
It all comes back to something I've repeated when these threads about retiring in a foreign country come up. Yes, America is expensive to live in. Its expensive because we have police that don't take bribes. We have judges that are not for sale. We have government agencies that do their best to keep accurate numbers. Our water won't give you diarrhea. Civilization isn't cheap, but does anyone really want to live without it?
I have some other issues. I have no particular reason to believe that the statistics in Mexico are as accurate as those as in America. My hunch is that in a third world country many homicides are not reported or noted as such. In the USA, I suspect the crime statistics are reasonably accurate.
People can retire anywhere they want. However, I wouldn't touch Mexico with a ten foot pole. I don't even vacation there anymore.
I agree on the statistics. Whether discussing crime or economics or whatever, it's easy to go online and find detailed statistics in the US but when it comes to 2nd and 3rd world countries you are reduced to estimates or unreliable numbers.
I disagree on the degree of doom. One can cringe at the thought of living in an area where the violent crime rate is 50 versus 20 but it's important to remember that is per 100,000. The odds of being a victim yourself remain very low. And crime is not wholly random. Sure, in some cases you are just at the wrong place at the wrong time but most of the time is can be related to who you are with and what you are doing. Most of those murders in Mexico are cartel-related and most of the victims were involved in drugs.
And it's not good to blindly make false equivalences without looking at the domestic or foreign city statistics rather than entire countries as a whole.
For instance, here are some U.S. cities that have higher rates than the murder rate in Mexico you cited:
I don't see threads with dire warnings telling people not to retire to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc., every time someone gets murdered in one of those states, but every time there's a murder of an American in a foreign country, it's suddenly unsafe to live anywhere within that country's borders.
Yes, I agree. I didn't want to make my post longer by going into a lot of detail, but what you mention was embedded in what I was thinking when I wrote "Of course, people's personal risk can vary according to a lot of factors."
Looking at average rates for large countries can be useful up to a point. However, that doesn't tell the whole story, and I never claimed it did. I've had a gun stuck in my face here in Houston, but never in Mexico. I used to travel to Mexico a lot, but I quit years ago on the advice of my best friend from there. As I said, Mexican friends there have been subject to muggings, carjackings, and home invasions. Such things do happen in the US also. However, I suspect (admittedly an emotional impulse) that an anglo-looking foreigner who looks like maybe he has money might be more at risk. Reminds me, it's not just anglo-looking people. A Japanese student of my friend had his briefcase stolen in Mexico City -- it had $50,000 in it. In the case of the home invasion, it was the boyfriend of the family's housekeeper who arranged it. These are just anecdotal details. My point isn't to put down Mexico -- I love Mexico and the people -- but just to call the attention of naive foreigners who might otherwise have an overly myopic and romantic attitudes. I think it's worthwhile to remind visitors to the US of the same thing: be careful when you're in an environment that is unfamiliar.
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