Mexico: Attack on resort beach in Baja California Sur August 6

Event

Officials said that unidentified gunmen attacked a group of people at a tourist beach in the southern part of Baja California Sur state on Sunday, August 6. The shooting occurred at the entrance to Playa Palmilla, a beach near the popular resort town of San José del Cabo. Three people were killed and two wounded in the attack. Police forces evacuated the beach after the incident. The shooting is being investigated and the identities of the victims have not been released as of Monday, August 7.

Context

Homicides are on the rise across the country, including in various tourist locations. During the month of June, authorities registered 2234 murders, making it the deadliest month on record in at least 20 years. Incidents have increased in regions across the country, including the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico City, and the popular tourist destination of Cancún. In the first six months of 2017, a total of 12,155 murder investigations were opened, 31 percent more than during the same period in 2016.

Violence in parts of Mexico is spiraling out of control as cartels adopt increasingly militarized tactics, and fierce turf wars between competing and increasingly fragmented cartels are on the rise. The deterioration of security conditions in Mexico sheds light on the failure of the state's security policies. The government's war on drugs has spanned a decade and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Between 2006 and 2012, around 120,000 people were killed in cartel-related violence across Mexico, excluding disappearances.

Advice

Individuals are advised to remain vigilant at all times.

Due to extreme levels of violence linked to the presence of various armed groups, many Western governments advise against travel to a large portion of Mexican territory, including Guerrero, Colima, Sinaloa, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas states and the northeastern border with the United States, as well as to a lesser extent Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, and Sonora states.