As most Canadians have likely heard, a hotel explosion over the weekend in Playa del Carmen killed five, including a child.
CBC has more info if you are curious.
Unfortunately, though perhaps not surprisingly, this seems to have tipped the delicate balance of Mexico tolerance a tad further towards the dark side. Though it could go on to be proved wrong, it currently looks like an accident, and no one has claimed responsibility. It was not the Zetas, it was not a rampage, it was not Al Qaeda. This does not - or at least should not - reflect on Mexicans as a people, and should have no bearing whatsoever on how Mexico as a country is viewed; though it seems this is exactly what is happening.
Canadians seem incensed not just at this, but at Mexico, Mexicans and anyone who even dares to set foot in the country. In their anger, seem to be forgetting a crucial aspect of this: it was an
accident.
Surely, Mex has problems with violence that are unheard of in Canada. And yes, for Canadians who have died in Mexico, its a personal tragedy: its horrible for any family to lose a loved one unexpectedly, especially when its through violent or unexplained means.
But a few things about this anger seem largely overlooked. One is that places like Quintana Roo (home to Playa del Carmen, Cancún and surrounding area) have a murder rate
LOWER than Canada. This stat doesn't necessarily apply to this situations, other than the fact that false assumptions are often made.
I would be fascinated to know what the murder rate is of Canadians who travel to Mexico. Thousands upon thousands of Canadians travel to Mexico every year, largely to engage in some form of hedonism. There has been a few gruesome murders in the past few years, but is it any higher than murder rates
within Canada? Sure, Canada is nice and all, but violent murders and attacks on innocents are far from unheard of (and work out to around 2/100 000 per annum). And, on top of this, roughly a third of the Canadians believed to have been murdered in Mexico in the past few years were also believed by (Canadian) police to be part of the drug trade in Canada.
Overall, for number of Canadian tourists who travel to Mexico, are more than 2/100 000 actually murdered? I would love to know.
Sites such as
Mexico Vacation Awareness play up the increasing fear, listing American and Canadian vacationers who have died in Mexico. But as you read down their site, a very different trend appears. Cause of death: fall from balcony (this is bizarrely common on this site). Cause of death: drowning. Cause of death: dune buggy accident. And, dotted amongst these accidents, a few murders.
If a Canadian goes to Mexico to enjoy the 'the sun, surf and low prices', why is it then Mexico's fault when said person gets wasted at their resort and falls off a balcony? Or, doesn't take into account their own ability, and drowns in the ocean? (Being a surfer and an ex-competitive swimmer, I still have moments where currents and waves pummel the crap out of me, and stuff a bit of humble pie at me: the ocean is a powerful beast, especially if your swimming skills fly half mast.)
Mexico is indeed very dangerous in some places, exponentially mas if "you got a foot knee-deep in the crack game." But people take risks, drink a lot and act dumb as possible on vacation; often in combination. This is dangerous. And on top of this just like everywhere, innocent mistakes are made in news places, and accidents happen as a result.
When people you know die, anger and sadness are natural and justified responses. But, judging from the massive comments sections in the Globe and Mail and CBC, there's some serious lack of understanding about where these emotions should be directed.
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