The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Statistics indicate that tourism to Mexico is up this year. The country’s Tourism Secretariat has posted revenues of $5.56 billion for the first five months of 2010, a 6.1 percent increase over the same period last year, notes Consumer Reports. Yet, due to drug-related violence in the country, the U.S. State Department has issued a Travel Warning cautioning Americans about the risks they face south of the border—even in tourist areas. “U.S. citizens traveling in Mexico should exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times,” the warning states. It’s enough for officials at the University of Colorado to suspend travel programs in Mexico because they can’t ensure students will be safe, writes the Daily Camera. Programs in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, and Monterrey have been halted but will only impact four students; interest in Mexico programs has apparently been low due to safety concerns. CU also canceled a service-learning trip to Mexico for 11 students and two advisers in the school’s International and National Voluntary Service Training, or INVST. Some of the most extreme violence in Mexico has occurred in the southern coastal state of Michoacan and the border town of Juarez, where a car bomb recently killed three people, writes the El Paso Times, which reports on narco-violence and other news from Juarez daily. Vanessa Martinez contributed to this post.