Fear and danger
03/08/2009 at 21:34 from (47.683479, -122.266725)
Marijana and I have been told by almost everybody we've spoken with that our trip is exceedingly dangerous. We've been told to watch out for "banditos", crooked taxi drivers, sexually predatory tour guides, corrupt cops, murderous drug runners, thieving street children, opportunistic con artists, violent fellow travelers, and a hundred other terrifying boogeymen. We've been told stories (some of which even turned out to be true) of young tourists, just like us, meeting some gruesome end in the chaotic, bloody maelstrom that is Latin America.
When we spoke with seasoned travelers or residents of the locales we plan on visiting, though, we heard a different story. Any place is dangerous, we were told, if people aren't careful. Opportunists and criminals are everywhere, not just in poor places. After all, the US has some of the most violent crime in the world. Many people simply said, "I was reasonably careful and nothing bad happened to me." In fact, most of the people we've spoken with who have actually toured Latin America can't contain their enthusiasm for the region, portraying the people as unbelievably kind, gracious, compassionate, and hospitable.
We wanted to find out how much of this fear and consolation is valid and how much is anecdotal. The bad things we hear have all the hallmarks of a game of telephone that seems to grow in violence with each telling. On the other hand, the reassuring promises that we have no worries in a land of kind strangers doesn't quite jive with the news accounts and official warnings.
Somewhere between these two extremes lies reality. We wanted to get a realistic idea of the risks we're facing and how to avoid danger, if we can.
A quick perusal of the State Department's website is enough to deter even the bravest adventurer from stepping out their door. Nothing dulls the keen rush of abandon like a sober and clinical listing of the thousands of murders, traffic fatalities, drownings, falls, suicides, heart attacks, allergic attacks, immune attacks, and insect attacks that scatter dead Americans around the globe every year.
Narrowing our focus to Latin America doesn't improve the picture much, either. According to the State Department's deaths report, 804 Americans died in the countries that we plan on visiting (México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil) between June 2005 and July 2008 alone. Of those deaths, over 20% were homicides.
Gulp.
Before we panic, let's try to put things into perspective. 546 of those deaths occurred in México alone. Given México's proximity with the US, the risk profiles of the human traffic that dominates our common border (Spring Break revellers, drug traffickers, illegal immigrants, snow birds, etc.), and the sheer travel volume (between 19 and 20 million Americans go to México every year, according to the ITA), it's not so surprising that there are so many deaths.
In fact, the 546 American deaths that occurred between June 2005 and July 2008 begins to look positively tiny when compared to the nearly 60 million Americans who traveled to México during that same period. And, according to the statistics, México is the top spot we go to die, accounting for 30% of US resident deaths overseas. México, then, is the riskiest place we'll be traveling to, and yet, we stand a much greater risk of being killed right here in Seattle than we do there.
The rest of the countries we plan on visiting have far fewer unnatural deaths than México, even taking into account the relatively lower number of people traveling to these places.
In fact, if these statistics prove anything, it's that the viscerally terrifying things happen so very rarely. The mundane tragedies are what claim so many lives, both at home and abroad. All we hear about these days is how violent and dangerous a place México has become, and yet the greatest threat to our well-being -- by a huge margin -- is the same thing that's likely to kill us right here at home: A traffic accident.
And the threat of deliberate death decreases more the further we get from México. To be honest, after giving it a little thought, I was a little surprised at how low the murder statistics were, considering the amount of political and social upheaval that the region has experienced over the past 50 years. I would have expected, with so many unstable governments and entrenched organized crime, that the incidence of violence would be much, much higher.
Perhaps the lesson we should take away here isn't that we shouldn't be careful, it's merely that we shouldn't conflate fear with danger. Safety -- at home or abroad -- is an illusion, as is any notion predicated on the idea that any of us is in control of our destiny. We are at the mercy of the world, and at no time is this more obvious than when the trappings of our security are stripped away and we're thrust into alien territory.
I think that's precisely why traveling is such an eye-opening experience for so many people. Travel is a wonderful reminder that the planet we're on can only really be appreciated on its own terms. It's exhilarating because it forces us to acknowledge that we're merely one bad driver, one misstep, one wrong turn away from doom, and that we'd better enjoy the ride while we're able.
Travel invariably boils down to trust. While no traveler should abandon their faculties for critical thought, we are ultimately in the hands of our hosts. With respect, kindness, prudence, and caution, it's possible to have a good time and still come back in one piece. The alternative -- staying -- is just as dangerous as leaving, but with one additional risk: We could wind up forfeiting our chance at adventure.