American Deaths in Mexico

Interesting article in the LA times about Americans dying abroad from non-natural causes. They have stats for Mexico, I'll paste the relevant paragraph here but article is an interesting read.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-americansdeadabroad-20101118,0,2011024.story

The Mexico death total of 137 is a slight increase from the first half of 2009, when the number was 126. Of the deaths in Mexico from January through June of this year, 44 were homicides and four more were labeled “executions.” Thirty-nine resulted from vehicle accidents and 17 were drownings.

Also the article noted:

These numbers come with many caveats. Department officials note that most Americans who die abroad are not tourists but people who live there as expatriates or as holders of dual citizenship. Also, these numbers are far from complete. For instance, surviving family members might or might not follow the government’s request that they notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate of a death.

xxx

I was going to ask the same question. Do you know why the authorities differentiate between the two? My curiosity bump is itching. Lizzy

I'd hazard a guess that they define homicide as the legal definition, a person killing another which may be justified whereas an execution is a it, a murder without justification and clearly a murder whereas a homicide might be unclear as to why the person was killed.

Makes sense. L