Of course the tourist locations are nice and don't give off an "almost failed state" vibe.

"Country Summary: Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico."

Heck, even Wikipedia does a good job covering it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Mexico

In my experience rather than having "nice tourist locations", it has the opposite: "dangerous crime locations". These are usually along the fault lines of cartel territories or in specific "sketchy areas". Mexico is nice for us non-tourists living in non-tourist places too IMO.

> 40 000 dead from direct conflict between cartels and government forces since 2006.

Just because it's technically unlikely that you're going to encounter the violence yourself, and therefore not give you a 'violence vibe' doesn't really have anything to do with how much violence there is.

40K is a gigantic number and will possibly be bigger than the Russian-Ukranian war when it's over.

If power of some armed groups rivals that of government, then it's a 'near failed state'.

We have the technology and wherewithal and hopefully 'learned lessons' to make progress on this.

The fact that this massive, organized violence exists, is to a great extent our responsibility for letting it metastasize.

Does this mean you stayed on cartel protected tourist routes, or did you have a chance to go "off the tracks" a bit?

The extent of violence and dangerous areas in Mexico is way, way overblown by certain news stations in America.

What exactly do you think "cartel activity" looks like? The fact that some random international tourist didn't witness any overt "cartel activity" does not remotely imply that it is not a problem in Mexico. These cartels have been in open war with the government for decades, police and military forces are regularly compromised, and frequently the cartels form defacto local governments when they take over towns. Pablo Escobar was one of the wealthiest people in the world when he went to war with the colombian government, mexico has similar issues.

I know it's a problem, but I also think english media depicts Mexico in a much more bleak light than it warrants.

I lived in the USA for many years - and not once, ever, did I see someone do anything racist. I also never witnessed, or even heard of through colleagues, of the police doing something wrong.

But clearly, systematic racism does exist, and, there are problems with the justice system.

And, it's a bit glib to suggest you'd directly see some kind of 'cartel activity' as a wayward tourist. Most violent activity is focused 'among players'.

Your point on 'way overblown in the American press' is definitely reasonable, in the sense that, the news will make people think that 'walking down the street in Mexico is on the whole dangerous' - when obviously it's not. In fact, it's generally safe.

That's not the issue though.

The relative level of violence, systematic corruption, lawlessness is very real and it affects many people in indirect ways.

Living in Russia is not dangerous. Especially if you don't say anything about the the government, there's almost 0% chance you're going to have a problem.

But watch videos of Russians being interviewed about the war in Ukraine - they are hesitant to the point of fearful in 'having an opinion'. There are certain thoughts, they are not allowed to have. If you can't read, write or talk about a thing, that thing dissapears. That's what oppression is: large swaths of people actually disagreeing with the government, but otherwise going about their business as normal.

In a 'safe country' you'll have no problem saying anything about anyone. The government, or criminals.

The next time you're in a Mexican city known to be controlled by cartel members, simply ask the question: "What do you think of so and so" cartel boss? You'll find out very quickly how pervasive influence is, and if you dig a little deeper, you might find out how systematically that corruption extends into quite a lot of small things - all the nooks and crannies.

Saying 'Mexico is no bad' is like saying Putin isn't a problem, because 99% of Russians don't directly suffer consequences. It's the 1% we are concerned about, and more broadly, the systematic issues that affect us all.

Mexico should be much richer and more prosperous than it is, and it will not evolve in a positive direction while it's partially a narco state. That affects everyone.

And, my comment wasn't meant to be as negative as it sounded. I live at the border. It's well known that the cartel regulates/protects Tijuana. A well visited Tijuana is a profitable Tijuana. They're not idiots.