Alerts and Warnings
In recent days we have witnessed a tragedy, the death of six Mexicans in a spiritual journey through the Egyptian desert when suddenly, they were attacked by military forces of that country and so far their deaths have not yet been clarified by Egyptian authorities and they have just announced that the investigation is ongoing. Let us see why the circumstances that ended the lives of six nationals and left four others wounded have not been clear.
Given the fact that the government of Mexico responded promptly and sent the corresponding diplomatic note to their counterparts in Egypt in which condemn these acts against citizens of our country and demanded a thorough investigation expeditiously.
Also, the President of Mexico instructed the secretary of foreign affairs in particular the chancellor Claudia Ruiz Massieu to travel accompanied by the families of the victims in the presidential plane and a medical and forensic group to attend the Mexican victims.
Thus, the work done by our authorities in response to this terrible tragedy has been effective, both materially and diplomatically because in the recent history of our country in the international arena; there is no precedent of an event of this magnitude, however, these facts lead us to a reflection that goes beyond good or bad of our government reaction to these events and we mean that as citizens of a country whose foreign policy traditionally promotes dialogue and understanding before using the force, Our perception is that Mexicans are friends all around the world and we do not represent a threat to any state, but most regions of the world that conflict at some point would not be able to distinguish between who is a friend or an enemy and unfortunately, these regrettable acts prove it.
An initiative that the Mexican government should consider, would be to establish mechanisms of warnings and alerts to Mexican citizens traveling or planning to travel either for leisure or business to any region of the world and if this represents a danger situation, to be notified promptly for they to perhaps reconsider their route or routes of travel and destinations. In the private sphere, travel agencies inform their clients of some situations of this nature.
Therefore, it is urgent to create the ways to have this information available in our country from anywhere in the world including the reference among governments and in the specific case of the Egyptian government, this does not give any reference that of the awareness of the presence of Mexican citizens where of the attack took place; while tourist agencies in the country reiterate that even permits were issued by the government tourists to visit the area.
So the diplomatic work in our country has a big task ahead in terms of prevention and the safety of Mexican citizens abroad, the government has already proven its willingness to mediate in the diplomatic field and to provide assistance to nationals.
Hopefully this horrible experience is a sufficient precedent, and preventive actions will be taken.
