Mexican President Says Mexico Is Safer Than The U.S.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday his country is safer than the U.S. amid criticism of security in Mexico following the kidnapping earlier this month of four Americans in northern Mexico in which two of them died.

"Mexico is safer than the United States. There's no problem with traveling safely around Mexico," he told a news conference in response to a question about U.S. travel warnings for Mexico.

Lopez Obrador said American tourists and Mexicans living in the U.S. were well informed about the country's safety, citing a recent rise in Americans residing in Mexico.

Criticism of the country's handling of crime was part of an "anti-Mexico" campaign by conservative U.S politicians, who wanted to impede the country's development, he argued.