State Department issues travel warning to Reynosa

McALLEN — The U.S. State Department renewed a travel alert to Mexico this week, adding Reynosa to an expanding list of cities experiencing drug violence.

The alert, issued Monday, specifically urges U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the states of Coahuila and Durango, where four U.S. citizens were killed in late 2009 and early 2010, the State Department said.

“Mexican drug cartels are engaged in violent conflict — both among themselves and with Mexican security services — for control of narcotics trafficking routes along the U.S.-Mexico border,” the alert states. “Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades.”

The State Department is also urging U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to parts of the Mexican states of Michoacán and Chihuahua, where two Americans were kidnapped and murdered, according to the travel alert.

“Large firefights have taken place in towns and cities across Mexico, but occur mostly in northern Mexico, including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Chihuahua City, Nogales, Matamoros, Reynosa and Monterrey,” the alert states. “During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area.”

The advisory this week comes amid an increase in violence across the border from the Rio Grande Valley and supersedes an advisory issued in August 2009.

“U.S. citizens are urged to be alert to safety and security concerns when visiting the border region,” according to the travel alert. “Criminals are armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons. In some cases, assailants have worn full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles. While most crime victims are Mexican citizens, the uncertain security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.”