Mexico Mulls U.S. Travel Warning Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Mexico Mulls U.S. Travel Warning By Mark Stevenson Associated Press Writer Friday, May 14, 1999; 6:26 p.m. EDT MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The Mexican government is considering issuing a travel warning about visiting Houston, where three Mexicans have been killed by police since 1997, officials said Friday. The advisory would be the first ever issued by Mexico on a U.S. city. The United States has often issued warnings on destinations south of the border, citing what it considers dangerous conditions. ``The Mexican government is very concerned by the cases of police violence against Mexicans in Houston,'' said the federal government official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. ``Based on that concern, the government is considering issuing a travel warning'' for the city. The most recent shooting occurred in April, when robbery suspect Eulogio Perez was killed in southwest Houston by law officers. Perez fired at officers after being stopped, police said. Houston police also fatally shot Pedro Oregon Navarro in July 1997 and Uvaldo Garcia Armendariz in September 1997. Officers shot Oregon 12 times -- nine in the back -- during an aborted drug bust. Although Oregon had a gun, tests showed it was not fired. Garcia was shot when he brandished a chair and charged a policeman responding to a domestic disturbance call. All three victims apparently lived in Houston. Mexico is upset about the apparent use of excessive force in some of the cases, and the fact that no legal proceedings have been carried out against any of the officers involved in the shootings. Officials from the Mexican Consulate General and the Houston Police Department have met at least once to discuss the shootings and plan more talks next week. City officials are taking the threat of a warning seriously because Mexico is the leading generator of international tourism for Houston -- with more than 1 million Mexican tourists visiting every year. Mayor Lee Brown, in a statement released Thursday, said it was not necessary to issue such a warning. ``The citizens of Mexico who travel to Houston and choose to live in our city can feel safe because they are protected by one of the finest law enforcement organizations in the world,'' said Brown. Richard Torres, president and chief executive officer of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said, ``We need to look at the problem, but I don't think that by having a travel alert that's going to solve the problem.'' Some activists say it may be time to turn the tables. ``The United States is always issuing advisories not to go to Chiapas or Guerrero or other places of unrest in Mexico, so now it's their turn,'' said Cristobal Hinojosa, a Houston Hispanic activist. (c) Copyright 1999 The Associated Press ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-05.16.99-23:25:21-11597