The United States government has issued a travel advisory recommending against travel to several areas in the northern state of Tamaulipas due to “increasingly frequent gun battles” and illegally manufactured improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which have been found in several parts of the state.
On Jan. 27, the U.S. travel advisory was raised to Level 4 for Tamaulipas, which borders Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. The alert warns that violent encounters have occurred “in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours.” It also explained that IEDs have been found “in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads.”
The advisory was issued on Jan. 27, the same day that Fox news reported U.S. Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with suspected cartel members.
The local consulate said that on Jan. 23, an IED destroyed an official vehicle belonging to the National Water Commission (Conagua) in Rio Bravo, injuring its occupants.
The U.S. government has ordered its employees “to avoid all travel in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours and to avoid dirt roads throughout Tamaulipas.”
On Monday, the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, also briefly issued a shelter in place order after receiving reports of gunfights in the city. The order was lifted later the same day.
The travel advisory for Tamaulipas has not significantly affected tourism, which is mostly regional, according to state Tourism Minister Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez.
Hernández noted that Tamaulipas has been the subject of such alerts before without seeing impacts on tourism. Hunting and medical tourism are the main draws of travelers to the state, and Hernández said that Tamaulipas’ security strategies guarantee safety for tourists.
The U.S. State Department currently has Level 4 travel advisories in place for six Mexican states: Zacatecas, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.
In contrast, Campeche and Yucatán in the Mexican Caribbean are the only Mexican states currently at Level 1, the lowest advisory from the State Department. Visitors to those areas are recommended to “exercise normal precautions.”
With reports from Milenio
