this topic touches on safety in general, and waht we can do to minimize risk. I'll be giving a talk on riding in Latin America in the future, and danger and doing ones best to minimize danger will be one of my topics I touch on.
Again, murders from robberies gone wrong happen every day in the United States, in Canada, and the unfortunate thing is that usually its not a planned thing, but a panicked or under the influence young man that makes a horrible decision , but I have personally spent enough time travelling on my own in Latin America to know that the social situations in many places are much much gloomier than here in Canada, and the chances of robbery is just going to be more. My Latin American friends live with a much more guarded attitude to things, simply because of the reality of poor desperate people and bad things happening.
As travellers, all we can do in our control is to minimize the risk by following certain rules, trying to keep a low profile as much as a gringo on a bike can (not flashing money, expensive doo dads) and doing as best as one can by listening to what people say about an area and or going with your gut instinct.
y toca madera...