EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Most places in Latin America remain relatively safe for Americans to visit. However, travelers should exercise caution in three hot spots where gangs control the streets or drug cartels are at war with each other. This is the key finding from the annual international risk assessment published this week by the Virginia-based security firm Global Guardian.
**Haiti: The Greatest Risk**
Setting foot in Haiti poses the greatest risk for foreigners or even Haitians returning home to see their families. Gangs control large swaths of land, including cities where they extort or victimize the population.
“Haiti is a failed state in many regards,” said Michael Ballard, director of intelligence for Global Guardian, during Wednesday’s Border Report Live. “You need a significant deployment of personnel to make a difference and to allow the government to function properly there.”
The president of the Haitian Transitional Presidential Council highlighted that the violence has displaced more than one million people, is claiming innocent lives daily, and has become a contemporary “Guernica.”
Just this week, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to establish a new 5,500-member security force consisting of soldiers and police officers. Their mission will be to suppress gang activity and restore order.
**Venezuela: Repression and Rising Tensions**
Next on Global Guardian’s list is Venezuela, where the government is allegedly bent on repressing dissent and unable to control corruption or stabilize its failing economy.
The Maduro regime is particularly under pressure after the Trump administration designated the gang Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The U.S. military has targeted Venezuela more aggressively, including blowing up three Venezuelan boats allegedly destined for America with drug shipments. More such actions may be underway.
In response, Maduro loyalists have been holding street rallies and training to “resist” a perceived U.S. invasion. Reports suggest the government is preparing to arm these groups.
“These three airstrikes on boats with alleged members of Tren de Aragua coincide with a relatively large deployment of some 6,500 troops into the Caribbean region,” Ballard explained. “You have U.S. Navy warships there now; part of it is counter-narcotics operations, but part of it is also sending a message to President Maduro, whom the U.S. government largely sees as illegitimate.”
Ballard further noted that the Maduro regime might issue a decree to mobilize the population should the U.S. conduct covert or open military operations targeting Venezuela.
The only exception to this nationalistic hostility might be foreign businesspeople coming to invest or manage strategic Venezuelan interests, such as its vital oil industry. These VIPs are likely to receive markedly different treatment than other foreigners or returning expatriates.
**Mexico: Complex and Nuanced Risks**
Mexico is the third nation on the list and presents the most nuanced risks. President Claudia Sheinbaum insists the country is safe and that the government—not drug cartels—is in control.
To underline this message, Sheinbaum visited the resort city of Mazatlan last Saturday. The state has been the scene of violent factional fighting within the Sinaloa cartel, which fractured and has been engaged in a war resulting in over 2,000 deaths and 800 missing persons in just over a year.
“Mexico has a very interesting security dynamic,” Ballard said. “You could be visiting Mexico City, Monterrey—relatively safe cities with issues like petty theft and some violent crime, typical of any large city worldwide.”
However, cartel strongholds in various cities and rural regions of Sinaloa, Michoacan, Guanajuato, and other states should be avoided due to ongoing cartel violence and the risks of abduction or extortion.
Additionally, areas traditionally considered safe are not immune to unrest; cartels have been known to protest arrests of leaders by hijacking and setting fire to cars or public transportation vehicles.
“The risks to travelers in places like the border, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan are quite severe in many cases,” Ballard warned. “Think kidnapping for ransom or collateral damage from large-scale shootings between rival cartels, intra-cartel disputes, or during law enforcement operations.”
The U.S. State Department maintains a “Do Not Travel” advisory for Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Colima. It also urges Americans to reconsider travel to Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora, Guanajuato, Durango, Jalisco, and Morelia.
In Tamaulipas, just across the border from many South Texas cities, “organized criminal activity is common and includes gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault,” according to the State Department.
Ballard noted that violence in Tamaulipas—which includes border cities such as Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros—has decreased in recent months as the Gulf cartel has fractured into factions controlling specific territories or “plazas.” These groups include the Metros, Cyclones, and Scorpions.
Although the old Zetas cartel no longer exists, the Northeast cartel (CDN) and Zetas Old School still maintain a presence to the west of the Gulf factions.
“By no means are those border cities safe, but there has certainly been improvement compared to past years,” Ballard said. “Still, we have witnessed how quickly violence can erupt in Sinaloa if there is a power vacuum—such as when a leader is arrested or extradited. This often leads to increased violence until the situation settles.”
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Travelers to Latin America should remain vigilant, carefully research local conditions, and heed official travel advisories to ensure safety.
https://fox5sandiego.com/news/border-report/use-extreme-caution-when-visiting-these-3-countries/