The number of Canadians in Mexico registered with Global Affairs Canada has more than doubled in the past 24 hours as the outbreak of violence “stabilizes,” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday.
“The situation in Mexico is becoming more stable. Flights have restarted. In other words, Canadian airlines announced, as of last night and this morning, that they will restart some of their flights,” Anand told reporters before the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
As of Monday morning, more than 26,000 Canadians have voluntarily registered with the GAC. On Tuesday, Anand said the number had dropped to more than 55,000 Canadians registered with the government.
Since registration with Global Affairs Canada is voluntary, the actual number of Canadians in Mexico may be higher.
“The situation needs to be closely monitored as we are doing with our embassy officials down in Mexico, and we are advising Canadians to follow the government’s advice,” said Anand.
Canadians in Puerto Vallarta have been asked to “shelve in place” after violence erupted in the Mexican beach city after the killing of cartel leader and drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in a military raid on Sunday.
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Within hours of the killing of Oseguera Cervantes, gunmen suspected to be his supporters blocked highways in several states and burned cars and businesses.
Map showing Global Affairs Canada security alerts for Mexico.
World News
The outbreak of violence may be a “message” from the shipping company to influence its environment, said Alejandro Garcia Magos, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
Although there may be violence in the coming days, Magos said he expects the situation to improve soon.
“There will be violence. There will be reorganization of the group. But this is a big disaster for this criminal organization. It will break. It will be dismantled. And in the end it will be a danger to society,” he said.
The government’s push to extradite the notorious drug lord has seriously disrupted the cart, he said.
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