The Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning Monday cautioning its citizens against going to the United States “in the face of growing indiscriminate violence.”
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The statement came after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas killed 21. The ministry said that gun violence is “hate crimes" that are rooted in "racism and discrimination which cost the lives of more than 250 people in the first seven months of this year" in the United States.
The Foreign Ministry recommended that Uruguayan citizens avoid visiting some U.S. cities, in particular, namely, Detroit (Michigan), Baltimore (Maryland) and Albuquerque (New Mexico), which are "among the 20 most dangerous in the world" according to the Ceoworld Magazine 2019 index.
The warning also urged citizens to "avoid places where large concentrations of people occur", such as "theme parks, shopping centers, art festivals, religious activities, gastronomic fairs, and any kind of mass cultural or sporting events.”
"In particular, it is recommended not to go with minors to these places," the warning adds.
Uruguay's warning comes a day after Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the country will take legal actions to protect its citizens in the U.S.
The massacre occurred Saturday morning in the heavily Hispanic border city of El Paso, where a gunman killed 20 people at a Walmart store before surrendering. Another victim succumbed to injuries Monday morning.
El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said investigators were examining a “manifesto” from the suspect indicating “there is a potential nexus to a hate crime.”
A four-page statement posted on 8chan, an online message board often used by extremists, and believed to have been written by the suspect, called the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”