Safety, Health and Crisis Management

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*NOTE: All study abroad participants are required to obtain "emergency hospitalization" and "emergency repatriation" coverage. Most domestic insurance policies do not cover this and only some international travel policies do. MSN's insurance agent offers this coverage to our students at a very affordable rate. Participants must either send us their policy coverage with the "emergency hospitalization" and "emergency repatriation" clauses highlighted, or opt for the plan through MSN's insurer.

The health and safety of Study Abroad participants is the highest priority for the Mexico-US Solidarity Network. We believe a safe and educationally valuable program is constructed on several foundations: experienced staff, solid and extensive local partners, comprehensive pre-planning for emergencies, a solid educational program that keeps students occupied in intellectual pursuits, and family oriented contexts that occupy student's free time.  Staff work closely with local partners to assess current health concerns and safety issues, and we adapt quickly to changing political conditions and unfolding events.  With years of experience taking groups to Mexico, the Mexico Solidarity Network has the know-how, experience, local connections and commitment to maximize the safety and health of participants.

Click here to read the rest of the Mexico Solidarity Network's statement on Safety, Health, and Crisis Management

Drug Violence in Context

Despite spectacular daily media coverage of gruesome killings, Mexico’s murder rate is significantly less than a decade ago - long before the current narco-battles for turf captured national and international headlines - and better than many US urban centers. The national murder rate in 2009 (the most recent for which statistics are available) was 14 per 100,000 residents, an increase from 10 in 2007, but below the 1997 figure of 17. In the late 80s, the number hovered around 20.

The vast majority of murders are committed in nine states, mostly along the US border or drug-producing states along the Pacific coast. The border states of Chihuahua (74), Durango (60), and Sinaloa (47), and the opium producing state Guerrero (46) experienced the highest murder rates, while the southern and central states of Chiapas (10), Tlaxcala (4), Veracruz (5) and Puebla (7) were comparable or lower than many areas in the US. Note that students on the study abroad program visit Tlaxcala, Chiapas, and Mexico City and not any northern states.

South and central Mexican cities compare favorably with many US urban areas: the murder rate in Washington, DC, was 31.4 per 100,000 (2008 figures), Chicago (18), Philadelphia (23), Indianapolis (14.1), Memphis (20.5), Baltimore (36.9), Kansas City (25.5), and Atlanta (19.7), while last year, Mexico City’s rate was 8. (Mexico statistics are from a study by the Citizen’s Institute on Crime Studies in Mexico City which takes its figures from official government statistics, while US statistics are from FBI annual reports.)