MEXICO: Is Mexico Worlds Second Most Deadliest Country? Mexico Disputes This

Mexico is the world’s second most dangerous country, according to a new study.

Only Syria is more a deadly conflict zone and Mexico is more dangerous than Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and other global hot spots, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Mexico’s drug wars and violence between cartels resulted in 23,000 deaths last year.

Mexico is Arizona’s largest trading partner and the two share a 300-mile border.

Commerce and trade as well as immigrants, smugglers and drug cartels traverse that border.

There are also plenty of tourism links between Arizona and Mexico’s resort and beach towns.

The death toll in Mexico’s conflict surpasses those for Afghanistan and Somalia.

This is all the more surprising, considering that the conflict deaths are nearly all attributable to small arms.

Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation, said IISS CEO and Director General John Chipman.

The IISS study shows 157,000 people died in armed conflicts in 2016 down from 167,000 in 2015.

Mexico accounted for 38 percent of Arizona exports in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But state exports to Mexico were down 9 percent last year.

There are plenty of trucking, agriculture, manufacturing and other business links between Arizona and Mexico.

President Donald Trump made illegal immigration and border security a top issue in the 2016 campaign and wants to build a wall along the U.S border with Mexico.

The government of Mexico including the Consulate General in Phoenix is taking issue with a much reported report ranking Mexico as the second most dangerous country in the world.

The study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) ranked Mexico behind only Syria among countries with violent conflicts. IISS cites Mexico’s drug wars and the deaths of 23,000 persons last year in its ranking.

Consul General of Mexico in Phoenix Claudia Franco Hijuelos calls the report’s conclusions unfounded.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry are also challenging the ranking.

They argue there is a difference between Mexico dealing with organized crime and drug cartels and war zones such as Syria and countries battling terrorism such as Nigeria and Somalia.

Here, the report is treating nations with completely different situations, which are neither comparable nor measurable against each others, in a similar fashion, the Mexican agencies contend.

They also point out that other Latin American countries such as Honduras, Venezuela, Belize, Colombia and Brazil have higher homicide rates per 100,000 people than Mexico.

The Mexican agencies also question whether to count all murders as part of the drug conflict is also valid.

Mexico is Arizona’s largest trading partner and the two share a 300-mile border.

Hijuelos points out in a letter to the Phoenix Business Journal that trade between Mexico and Arizona totaled $16 billion in 2016 and accounts for 111,200 jobs in the state.

She also said tourists from Mexico account for 68 percent of overnight international travelers in Arizona.