Security in Mexico City

Crime-Ridden Areas in Mexico City

A city of the size of the Federal District with a population in the range of 20 million inhabitants (to include the outskirts of the city in the neighboring State of Mexico) obviously has crime-ridden areas that, as a visitor or temporary resident, you should identify and make sure you stay away from. It is a good idea to have access to maps in your office, home or hotel that contain all the relevant points where you conduct routine activities within the city. Also, it is a good habit to know, ahead of time, where you intend to go, especially in a place you are not familiar with.

Know your Areas of Activity

In these maps you should mark the exact location of your temporary residence and place of employment. If you visit clients, find out where they are located and how to get to and from their offices. If family dependents live with you, locate their schools on these maps as well. To do this with them can actually be fun. It's also not a bad idea is to determine where the ABC or Red Cross hospitals are, as well as the airport and police and fire stations. The embassy or consulate you are a citizen of would be good to locate as well. Your foreign service personnel may assist you in a wide variety of services that range from trade, agriculture, education, taxes or passports.

Crime Prevention

You will impress your coworkers, supervisors and clients if you move around this large city knowing where you are and how to get where you're going. Be conscious of your timing and make note of the distances you cover when you drive from one point to another. This will allow you to be better prepared to respond in case of any emergency, not to menton crime-related problems. Consider possible alternate routes in cases of demonstrations, accidents, road conditions, earthquakes or electrical supply interruptions. If you don´t know it already, varying your routes and schedule also lowers the likelihood of a kidnapping, because it makes you unpredictable.

Take Note, Mark your Maps

Though we are unable to identify all potentially dangerous areas in such a huge place as Mexico City, take note that you should probably never enter any of these colonias: Tepito, Lagunilla, Doctores, Buenos Aires, Pensil or Santa Julia. Both sides of Ignacio Zaragoza are dangerous enroute to or coming from Puebla. The areas surrounding Mexico City's airport and all 4 major bus terminals, the ABC Hospital, Railroad's central station, the Shrine of Guadalupe, most of Gustavo A. Madero (this includes the area of Indios Verdes at Insurgentes Norte) and Iztapalapa delegaciones are risky, some for the sole fact that so many people move through these places that they attract criminals. Also beware of the area behind the National Palace in the historic center, Garibaldi Square and La Merced market.

Actually, should you by accident enter any of these zones, it is not like you will automatically get mugged, attacked, feel unsafe or enter a state of panic. It is quite possible that you may notice nothing out of the ordinary. You will notice, perhaps, more graffitti on the walls and trash in the street, but people will be minding their own business. It is statistical information from local police that lead us to issue this warning. Act coherently and simply try to leave the area as soon as you can. Although there are numerous campaigns both in and outside Mexico intent on discrediting public safety, a state of order and discipline reigns in Mexico City, which does include most of these urban areas just designated as "areas to avoid."

By Mario Gonzalez-Roman, a retired Foreign Service National Security Advisor to the United States Embassy, currently a private Security Consultant, columnist at www.securitycornermexico.com

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