I suppose the big question is: 'What does it take to address the lawlessness?'
And the answer to that surely lies in more equitable distribution of resources - or at the very least the opportunity lawfully to access resources - both within Mexico and the American continent.
According to the figures reported by NPR here - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/10/31/1209683893/how-the-u-s-gun-violence-death-rate-compares-with-the-rest-of-the-world -
in 2021 Mexico had 5 times as many gun deaths as the USA. Which doesn't look great for Mexico.
But the USA had 340 times more than the UK.
To me, as a Brit, that puts both countries in the 'dangerous place, full of homicidal maniacs with guns - don't go there' category.
The reality is almost certainly not as simple, though. If I visit Mexico, I am clearly a far more obvious source of potential monetary gain, through theft, kidnapping or extortion, than I am in the USA. Depending on the neighbourhoods I frequent, that is.
But that is a factor of relative inequality, not absolute gun violence, I would suggest.
Things may have deteriorated hugely in Trinidad & Tobago in the last 30 years to put it right at the top of the pile, with Mexico, etc., and everywhere save for the homicidal top dogs Venezuela and El Salvador. But when I was there, I know that I felt absolutely safe wandering around, getting a bus across the island, strolling downtown Port of Spain.
I guess media image has a lot to do with it. I wouldn't go to Mexico either, even to a resort (and in any event, why even bother going if you're going to stay in a themepark resort? - We have beaches and piña colada here in Spain).
Statistically, maybe I'm 'right' or 'wrong' in that risk-averse decision. But it's a matter of perception, and how many horror stories we've read recently in the press.
I have friends in London - wealthy lawyers - who quite regularly visit Bogotá, and have never reported anything more serious than a slightly dodgy vibe and the urge to make their excuses and leave in certain places.
