A post by "Nancy Dardarian" | http://www.countdowntomexico.com Nancy lives in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México, with her husband Paul and two dogs. To see more posts by this author, click here.

There’s been a lot of talk about safety among the expat community in Mexico lately.  It seems like the press and the US government are going out of their way to discourage people from vacationing in Mexico.  Those of us who live here – who love it here, wonder why.

I’m not going to try to figure out what their agenda might be.  Some people speculate that it has to do with keeping American vacation dollars at home to help the economy.  Maybe it’s just more of the nanny style of government.  I really don’t know.  But I do know it is taking a toll on Mazatlan and other communities that rely on tourism for a fair bit of their economy.  I’ll talk about that in a minute.  For now, let’s go back to the topic of safety.

We all want to be safe.  What is that, exactly, though?  Does that mean that there is a zero percent chance of something unexpected happening?  I doubt that anyone expects that!  I mean the world is full of random events – you come around a corner a little too fast and a truck is stopped in your lane…you hit it…someone is hurt…and everyone involved feels shaken and unsafe.  But that doesn’t mean you never drive again, does it?  And random events don’t just happen in Mexico, you know!

I have been getting numerous letters every week from people who aren’t sure if they should come on their long-planned vacations to Mazatlan.  It’s good that they are looking for more information and need to decide for themselves whether they’ll feel safe or not.  I  tell people that write me that I feel safe, and that I love it here, and if they want a fuller explanation as to why they should read my blog.

We all know there is a war in Mexico between drug cartels and each other and drug cartels and the government.  High ranking police officials have been killed.  There have been graphic pictures in the media of bodies lined up where they were executed.  This is horrifying, no doubt.  But aside from the slim chance that someone would be in the wrong place at the wrong time, it feels far removed from everyday life.

But one thing that isn’t far removed is the effect that the loss of tourist dollars especially hurts the poor here in Mexico.  Many people here are already living a very marginal existence, and losing a job or having hours reduced is an impossible situation.  And here in Mazatlan we had already been feeling the effect of the financial crisis reducing the velocity of construction and hence construction related jobs.

I love it here.  I love traveling all over Mexico.  I take common sense precautions and keep my eyes open.  But…you know, I do that where ever I am, and I imagine you do, too.   Mexico is a delightful country filled with warm hearted, generous people who would like nothing better than to share with you the Mexico they know and love.  I hope you choose to see for yourself.