Dips in Mexico Told To Leave Kids at Home

ABC's Kirit Radia reports:

U.S. diplomats at the Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico, will no longer be allowed to bring their children with them, the State Department said today, citing increased violence and kidnapping in the area.

“U.S. government personnel from the Consulate General in Monterrey have been advised that the immediate, practical and reliable way to reduce the security risks for children of U.S. Government personnel is to remove them from the city,” states a new Travel Warning issued today.

The new restrictions follow a shootout that broke out last Friday in front of the American Foundation School in Monterrey in an apparent attempt to kidnap the child of a local businessman.

“The level of violence in Monterrey is increasing and has spread to areas near a school which many U.S. citizen children attend.  Local police and private patrols do not have the capacity to deter criminal elements from areas around schools,” the warning adds.

In a Warden message sent to Americans in Monterrey on Sunday following the shootout, the consulate general said that “at this point it appears that it was an attempted kidnapping targeting the relatives of a local business executive.  While it does not appear that U.S. families were targeted, the sharp increase in kidnapping incidents in the Monterrey area, and this event in particular, present a very high risk to the families of U.S. citizens who might be become incidental victims. It is incumbent on all of us to take measures to reduce exposure to risk and enhance personal security.”

The move makes Monterrey a so-called “partially unaccompanied post” — the first time such a restriction has been placed on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Mexico. Monterrey and a number of U.S. diplomatic facilities in cities along the border were already under “authorized departure,” meaning that family members could depart with U.S. help if they wanted to.

The new restrictions will take place starting September 10 and will affect about 25 diplomatic families, according to a U.S. official, who declined to say how many children were affected due to security concerns. The official said that only a handful of family members departed when authorized departure was announced earlier this year.

Following last Friday’s shooting the U.S. Ambassador already asked U.S. personnel at the consulate in Monterrey to keep their children at home while the risk was being assessed. Consulate security teams are working with local authorities to ensure the school is secure, according to the Warden message.