VIDEO NEWS STORY: Mexico: The Light and the Dark

Mexico is a country of contrast.

According to the U.S. Department of State over 40,000 people have died in drug war-related violence since 2006 in Mexico. Mexico is also one of the 10 most visited nations on Earth.

Somewhere between these two facts is the truth.

Mexico is home to amazing Mayan archeological sites --Chichén Itzá, Cobá, Palenque and others. The beaches of the Costa Maya are pristine. Pearl-sand and clear water stretches for miles.

Outside tourist zones in the cities of Merida and Campeche the sight of urban decay is telling.

In Merida, lines for city buses stretch whole city blocks. At points between there is more poverty. The U.S. Department of State estimates that 44 percent of Mexicans live in asset-based poverty.

The site of an armed uprising in the 90s, Chiapas is another story altogether. Indigenous peoples of Chiapas are still fighting for rights guaranteed them in the Mexican constitution.

There is great beauty in Mexico. Mexicans gather in the zona centro areas of their respective towns and cities. Street performers come out at night to entertain crowds, and young lovers embrace on park benches. Policeman hover, carrying Uzi sub-machine guns.

In Mexico, the contrast is the beauty.