Mexico vs. other countries in central/south America - I'm seeing the difference

Ok, the difference started to hit home when my friend R from Uruguay told me specifically he did NOT want any part of visiting Mexico on his trip to the southwestern USA.

Having seen Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico in the past seven months... I'm starting to "get it."

Living in Phoenix, I see Mexican TV. No, not just the local channels that are in Spanish but the full feed of Mexican cable channels through a satellite service. Phoenix, Los Angeles - even as far north as San Francisco... the Sky signal hits all those places although the further north you get the poorer the signal quality gets.

I got home this evening and decided... damnit, I get all these US and Mexican channels, may as well USE the Sky box for awhile tonight seeing as I've just paid the bill for the service - and it's not cheap. To get BBC World you have to subscribe to the full package.

BBC world does a whole 20 minute segment on the battles between the drug cartels on the border vs. the MX police. So I was curious and knew that the local news channel probably had the live feed of the local news from TJ.

And it was this evening I started to "get it." To buy a gun in the USA is trivial. Techincally it's a big crime "delito"/"felony" under the Mexican legal system to bring guns and ammunition into Mexico. But apparently a large quantity of Americans smuggle them into Mexico for re-sale.

It's obvious why... crossing from Mexico to the USA you can be subjected to everything from car disassembly to x-rays to whatever. USA to Mexico? Odds are, you just drive across. No examination of papers, nothing. You absolutely positively have to have MX auto insurance and they don't check for it. Supposedly further into Mexico there are checkpoints where papers ARE checked but in the border area - not so much.

So that's the information I put together between BBC and my own experience.

Then I switched to the Tijuana local news. The government of Baja California has a steady stream of advertising about how they are improving the police despite all the officers killed in the last six months (eight at last count). The news stories just from today were super-graphic with gun battles etc.

In Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Argentina - the government has good control over its territory.

Now, this doesn't stop me from exploring northern MX. I even take my car, GPS navigation makes Baja much less scary! I figure... if my number is going to come up, it's going to come up. It's largely sightseeing because there are some incredible views between Tijuana and Mexicali on the MX-2 toll road. But I only travel during the day and I keep a close eye in the rear view mirror.

I make DAMN sure all papers are in order for both sides of the border and don't take any stupid risks. The views are worth it!

But then contrast that to the other three countries. Far fewer battles between the police and anything. Argentina is the most risky but its orders of magnitude less. Uruguay? Damn, the country is organized based on France. One feels really safe. And Costa Rica is a whole different economic critter than the other three - CR has a BIG middle class so there is less crime pressure and the police presence feels a bit like in the USA. The capital city is dangerous in parts but the coastal areas - provided you use common sense - are super-safe.

In Mexico I would never drive at night. Ever. Argentina - less likely but its more for reasons of traffic safety. (Hell, even during the day... the Argentines are INSANE behind the wheel!) Uruguay? I would not think twice about driving at night. Safe, but you might have to give small gifts to the highway police if they stop you. Costa Rica? Depends. In San Jose probably depending on the neighborhood, in the beach areas probably as well. The beach areas of CR - your biggest danger is drunk drivers. Long distance travel in CR at night - probably not. The country is quite mountainous and while distances between locations are relatively short... the roads are difficult to navigate even during the day where they pass thru the mountains.

But definitely after the 3rd variation on the GobBC police commercials during the TJ local news... I was starting to understand why R didn't want to go into Mexico. It'd be depressing.