(CNN) -- The U.S. State Department has broadened its travel warning for Mexico, advising citizens to avoid certain areas and steer clear of driving at night. The new alert, issued late last week, urges Americans to defer nonessential travel in regions where drug-related violence has surged, including the border state of Tamaulipas and the central state of Michoacan. It also warns against nonessential travel in parts of eight other states, significantly expanding the scope of an alert issued in September. "There's pretty much no state that hasn't been touched by this. ... We've seen some major, high-value cartel targets that have been taken down by the Mexican government, but that doesn't appear to have quelled a lot of the violence," said Fred Burton, vice president of the Stratfor global intelligence agency. "We see no short-term end in sight."
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The alert singles out some Mexican states and warns U.S. citizens to drive during daylight
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A security analyst says there is "no short-term end in sight" to drug violence
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One U.S. university official calls the new warning a "major red flag"
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An American retiree living in Mexico says people "do not live in fear"
"There is no evidence that @placeholder tourists have been targeted by criminal elements due to their citizenship.