Uruguay Warns Its Citizens To Take Precautions When Traveling To US

Uruguay is now warning its citizens to be on guard for hate crimes when traveling to the U.S. in the wake of shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left 31 people dead.

Uruguay’s foreign ministry released an official alert to Uruguayan citizens on Monday.

“The Ministry of Foreign Relations warns citizens traveling to the United States to exercise caution amid growing violence, largely hate crimes of racism and discrimination, that’ve taken over 250 lives in the first six months of this year,” the statement reads in Spanish.

The foreign ministry says that given the “impossibility” of the American authorities to “prevent these situations” and the “indiscriminate” possession of guns in the U.S., Uruguayans are advised to avoid crowded places, especially if they have children with them.

American law enforcement is investigating the El Paso shooting as domestic terrorism and a hate crime after authorities found a racist manifesto about a “Hispanic invasion” that they believe may have been written by the El Paso shooter.

Mexico’s foreign minister is threatening to take legal action against the U.S. over the shooting, which took the lives of seven Mexican citizens.

“Mexico is outraged. But we aren’t proposing to meet hate with hate,” Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Sunday, according to the Guardian. “We will act with reason and according to the law and with firmness.”