President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has taken plenty of flak for his constant sniping at opponents during his frequently long-winded morning press conferences.
His focus on one target this week, however, made a lot of sense, some longtime foreign residents of this country noted.
AMLO took aim at the U.S. State Department’s advisories warning against travel to certain states in Mexico due to crime and the potential for violent incidents. Parts of many states are now listed as virtual “no-go” areas, with specific “Do Not Travel” warnings, the highest level alert (four). (The third level alert tells citizens to “reconsider travel.”) The most recent advisory included new alerts for Zacatecas, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.
The president said the advisories were “not serious,” and “in bad taste,” accusing the United States of being “busybodies.”
“It’s as if I said, don’t go to Los Angeles, don’t go to New York. Of course they have problems too.” To illustrate his point, AMLO turned to a screen and showed a video of a car hijacking in New York City—an everyday occurrence that can happen anywhere.
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