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Traveling to Mexico, how safe is it?

04:35 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 12, 2006

By Angela Kocherga / 11 News

Political unrest and Mexico’s escalating crime, the recent being drug-related beheadings, may have Americans asking if it is safe to travel there?

Kris and Bonnie Ernst didn't hesitate when deciding to vacation in Mexico.

Television images of angry demonstrations exploding in violence in the tourist haven of Oaxaca aren’t helping.

Newspaper headlines there read: Drug cartels unprecedented brutality: Five human heads tossed onto a nightclub dance floor by masked men in Michoacan state.

By contrast the massive protests in the capital city of Mexico City were merely an inconvenience.

“Our option was not to come or to come to Mexico City,” said Kris Ernst a tourist.

That’s where he and his wife’s daughter were finishing a summer internship.

During their trip, the Ernst family visited an artisans market.

It was eerily quiet because outside the streets nearby were clogged by protestors who set up a camp after the disputed presidential election.

“It seems like it’s pretty peaceful at this point in time,” said Bonnie Ernst.

For now the U.S. Embassy is advising Americans to avoid any type of protest in Mexico noting even those that appear peaceful can suddenly erupt in violence.

That’s exactly what happened in Oaxaca City prompting the State Department to urge Americans to consider carefully the risks of traveling to the popular spot.

“We had a contact there who told us not to come because you couldn’t go outside,” said Bonnie Ernst.

Oaxaca was the Ernst’s first pick for a summer vacation.

But even in this city not a single American has been reported hurt.

With cancellations mounting the same cannot be said for Mexico’s image as a top tourist destination.