Is No News, Good News??
I have been back and forth visiting the various states in the country of Mexico, since I was 17 years of age. (that’s a long time!)
My husband and I have spent the last 11 summers in sunny, relaxed Mexico.
In light of recent events, I have been contacted by many people far and wide. Yes, we are safe as are all of our friends down there. Yes, there was some riotous acts for about a 3 hour period in our village of residence. There were cars and one convenience store set on fire. Nobody was hurt. Interesting and disgusting at the same time the way bad news travels! And how many are, dare I say, glad to see it, as though they have been justified! It doesn’t occur to some that the same thing that happened there also happened in the USA? And more consistently for many years with much more damage and deaths. But something about gang related violence south of the border as opposed to the gang/mob violence north of our southern border is deemed much worse to many North Americans!!
But now here’s the thing that continuously makes me chuckle. Mexico is part of North America…therefore covered by American News. You know what American people don’t get on a daily basis? Caribbean News.
Why? Because the island news is governed and operated by the British. So, as so very often it happens, people boast constantly about their Caribbean vacations, cruises, boating excursions and adventures and Beach time without any consideration or knowledge of the crime in the Caribbean….because the general American public doesn’t have any idea what calamities happen on the islands. Ignorance is bliss. Because America doesn’t care much about the Caribbean, they don’t report much. The islands bottom line has little to do with America so it’s a mute point.
As a travel professional for the majority of my adult life, I am not so naive as to let the news come to me. I go seek the news there. It was at one time, my job to advise my clients. But travel agencies have dwindled in the last 25 years and the services are now so much less comprehensive.
Here is what I clipped from the BBC News just this week.
St Maarten (both Dutch and French) is experience a rise in brazen often violent and coordinated armed robberies targeting tourists, particularly in late 2025 and early 2026.
Article attached below
Barbados experience a surge in homicides in 2024 reaching 50. Much of the violent crime is related to gangs and illegal firearms.
Article attached below
Haiti consistently ranks as having one of the highest crime rates in the Caribbean, particularly concerning homicides. Other islands like Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago also has significant violence.
A State of emergency was declared due to surging violent with over 620 murders recorded in the recent annual period 2025-2026. Article attached below
Turks and Caicos Islands are on a joint operation with increasingly having to respond to fatal shootings.
Article attached below
St. Lucia Stable High persistent gang violence among known criminals. Article attached below.
It is stated frequently by news media that a few islands are major trans-shipment hubs for cocaine moving from South American to the US and Europe, rivalries over these lucrative trafficking routes often trigger violent turf wars.
On a personal note, I have been offered cocaine on the street in Jamaica and that same day, a large physical fight broke out while attending an outdoor Reggae performance. I’ve had police with machine guns rush a Pizza Hut where I was having lunch with my 16 year old daughter in the Bahamas. Do you know anybody chartering a catamaran around islands that has been boarded and robbed by pirates? Well I do.
Although part of the US;it is interesting to note that one evening, while on a business trip in Puerto Rico, we were on a tour bus having just finished touring a winery, my husband and I along with many employees were rushed and boarded by several armed men with large weapons drawn as they were searching for a criminal.
And I could go on.
When surrounded by oceans, evidence, weapons and bodies are so easily disposed of. How many unsolved crimes are out there? Do you think the Brits want tourists to know this? Beaches and Palm Trees are not always Paradise! So the point I am trying to get across is: do your homework. Best to inquire to the BBC before your next trip. Let’s normalize the hard cold fact that bad things happen EVERYWHERE shall we?
News is always available worldwide on the web.
