Chad Cummins, the State Department consul assigned to Northern Sonora, including Nogales and Puerto Penasco, made clear at a recent Rio Rico, AZ Rotary Club meeting that the recent travel alert for Mexico has been overblown and in some cases falsely reported by various media outlets. He emphasized that the warning was meant as an advisory to exercise caution, which is "the same thing you do when you cross the street, or when you go out at night in the big city". It did NOT say, as erroneously reported in an Associated Press article, that "As spring break approaches, Arizonans are urged to avoid Nogales, Mexico, and the beach areas of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point." In an article by Jonathan Clark in Nogales International, Mr. Cummins was quoted as saying "...we are not discouraging people from coming to Mexico, that is not the purpose of this travel alert."
..."The more people that come to Mexico and see what's going on down (there), the more it will help to dispel the myth that all of northern Mexico is a war zone. Because that's just not the case."
This is very good news for Rocky Point, and Mexico in general. But even better news is that the story has been picked up and reprinted in newspapers across the country from the small media outlets to the giants: The Washington Post; Frederick Douglas Family Foundation; Arizona Daily Star; The Seattle Times; Newsday; MSNBC; Phoenix-ON News and many others.
So at last the record is being set straight. Puerto Penasco is NOT a dangerous place to visit. Just don't leave your brain at the border when you come down.
Read the entire article at Nogales International for the full content of Mr. Cummins' clarification of the situation.
And come on down! The water's fine!
