Statement from Ambassador Ken Salazar on the Release of the Department of State Annual Travel Advisory for Mexico

Today, the Department of State released its annual update to the Travel Advisory for Mexico. I urge you to read the full Travel Advisory for the details of the security environment in all states in Mexico and to make a habit of monitoring U.S. State Department travel updates for the latest security information.

I congratulate Nayarit, Estado de Mexico, and Coahuila for improved security and therefore an upgraded level in the 2022 Travel Advisory.

There are six states to which the State Department asks American citizens not to travel: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

The states where security issues arise underscore the importance of the Bicentennial Framework between the United States and Mexico.  In that framework the United States and Mexico committed to improving security and better protecting our people.  Without security, there is no prosperity.  It is important to reaffirm our commitment to citizen safety by providing training and resources to Mexican justice and security institutions and deepening our cooperation.  The United States will continue to work with our partners, friends and neighbors as we build a peaceful future together.

I will continue to engage personally with all stakeholders and levels of government to advance the U.S.- Mexico shared security agenda.  In doing so, I will travel to the regions with security challenges to continue to foster a mutual approach to this shared challenge and help fulfill our countries’ commitments in the July 12th Joint Declaration by Presidents Biden and Lopez Obrador in which they stated:

“Through the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities, we reaffirmed our commitment to work together to address major security issues affecting our nations, including the challenges of fentanyl, arms trafficking, and human smuggling, and to reduce levels of drug abuse and addiction.  We committed to deepen our cooperation to combat transnational criminal organizations that foment violence in both our countries.  We reaffirmed the robust operational efforts between law enforcement agencies to address these paramount security efforts.”

URL of Travel Advisory on the Department of State website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html