Mexican president says Mexico is safer than the US

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference at the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection in Mexico City, Mexico, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday his country is safer than the US amid criticism of security in Mexico following the kidnapping earlier this month of four Americans in northern Mexico in which two of them died.

"Mexico is safer than the United States. There's no problem with traveling safely around Mexico," he told a news conference in response to a question about US travel warnings for Mexico.

Lopez Obrador said American tourists and Mexicans living in the US were well informed about the country's safety, citing a recent rise in Americans residing in Mexico.

Criticism of the country's handling of crime was part of an "anti-Mexico" campaign by conservative US politicians, who wanted to impede the country's development, he argued.

Murder rates were around four times higher in Mexico than in the United States in 2020, according to data published by the World Bank.

The US embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.