With spring break only days away at the University of Toledo, many students are packing their bags for a week at the beach in sunny Mexico; however, last week the U.S. Department of State reissued a Travel Alert to update security information for U.S. citizens planning to visit the country.
“While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, violence in the country has increased. It is imperative that U.S. citizens understand the risks in Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and whom to contact if one becomes a crime victim,” according to the alert issued on Feb. 22.
The recent alert “supersedes the Travel Alert for Mexico dated August 20, 2009, and expires on August 20, 2010.”
Before spring break in 2009, UT issued a memo warning the UT community about the concerns and safety issues outlined in the federal Travel Alert for Mexico; however, this year Interim Dean of Students Michele Martinez said she doesn’t plan on issuing a warning to students.
“Last year we did urge that [students] canceled their plans. Well, there was so much violence and the reports were saying that groups were specifically targeting tourists that we felt really strongly to give our students a warning,” she said. “We do of course want all students to be safe and to be good citizens and to follow the advisements of the federal regulation, and so I hope that they will make those choices, but I don’t think that our memo kept them from [going to Mexico] last year.”
According to the Travel Alert, the U.S. Embassy is urging Americans to “delay unnecessary travel” to certain areas of Mexico due to “recent violent attacks.” The areas of concern include Michoacàn, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, and according to the alert U.S. citizens are advised to “exercise extreme caution” while traveling in those areas.
Martinez said after last year’s memo was sent out to the UT community she really didn’t hear of any students that decided against traveling to Mexico for spring break.
“I do think it helped students to make better choices about being safe once they were there, but I don’t think anybody changed their plans and didn’t go because we sent that memo,” she said. “I think they probably acted cautiously which I’m glad for that.”
Rachael Wise, a senior majoring in marketing, said she went to Mexico for spring break last year and is going on a cruise this year that will be stopping at Cozumel and Calica, two tourist destinations in Mexico. Wise said the Travel Alert issued last year influenced her spring break plans, and she chose not to leave the resort she was staying in.
“It affected me a lot more last year, because it seemed to be a lot bigger deal,” she said. “It was all over every news station, all over the Internet, I probably got 50 phone calls from family and friends ‘you can’t go, you’re going to get kidnapped.’”
Wise said she hasn’t really heard of any safety warnings about traveling to Mexico this year so she hasn’t really thought about the issue.
Peter Hakos, a sophomore majoring in pharmacy, said he is planning on going to Cancun, Mexico for spring break this year. While he was aware of the security alert, Hakos said it didn’t affect his decision to spend his spring break on the beach.
“I knew I wanted to go somewhere nice and warm so … [I’m] not really too concerned, no. The resort that we’re staying at is really in more of the nicer areas,” he said.
Martinez said for many students it may be their first time traveling outside of the U.S. without their parents, and it is necessary to remind them about how to stay safe abroad.
“I think that reiterating the message that they should be careful, that they should be mindful of their surroundings, that they should have a plan and that they should travel in pairs — that sort of thing — I think all of that is good to remind students when they go abroad to other countries,” she said.
According to the Travel Alert, U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico are encouraged to remain in tourist areas, leave an itinerary with family or friends not traveling with them, avoid traveling alone and check with their cell phone providers to confirm their phone is capable of roaming on international networks.
Due to the dozens of unsolved cases of U.S. citizens being kidnapped in Mexico throughout recent years, the Department of State is urging Americans to “exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times” while traveling in Mexico.
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