U.S. adds Zacatecas to its ‘no travel’ advisory list of Mexican states

The U.S. State Department raised the alert level for traveling to some Mexican states in the central and northern parts of the country due to an increase in violence and kidnappings.

The advisory, originally issued on Aug. 17, elevated travel risk and recommends “not to travel” to Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

During a visit to this state on Saturday, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar tweeted that Zacatecas was added because of an increase in crime.

“Without security, there can be no prosperity, and investment wanes,” Salazar tweeted.

Salazar said he met with state and federal officials.

“I’m eager to learn… what steps they’re taking to make this state safer and how we can provide support.”

Alert level 4 is assigned to states where, according to the parameters of the Department of State, there’s the possibility of kidnapping, homicide and robbery.

Zacatecas is one of Mexico’s leading migrant-sending states to the United States. The community of people from Zacatecas is among the larger groups of Mexicans living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to the Mexican Consulate in Dallas.

In the advisory from the State Department, it says: “The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted.”

Mexico’s homicide rate under president Andrés Manuel López Obrador is on pace to surpass the number of homicides under his predecessors. In four years under his administration, there have been around 129,000 deaths.