Have you, or anyone you know, ever been mugged in Belize?

[gt95stang]

I know there are multiple threads on Belize safety on the board. From those I've gathered that:

 

• Guided excursions are perfectly safe.
  
• "Inside the gates" at the port is perfectly safe.
  
• "Outside the gates" people have had differing experiences.
  

However, in reading some of the posts, I wonder how much the experiences outside the gate really vary, and how much of it is really just differing expectations of the people posting. Most of the "negative" posts seem to indicate a general feeling of "unsafe", an annoyance with locals trying to sell you stuff and annoyances with locals following you. But I haven't read any specific experiences where people were mugged or accosted. So if you know of any of those experiences, please advise.

 

I think my preference in Belize will be to wander outside the gates for the specific purpose of interacting with the locals. I've traveled to several 3rd world countries (most in Asia though, not in South America) and have never felt unsafe in any of them - even though the vendors can get pretty aggressive sometimes. If anyone has traveled extensively to 3rd world countries, are there any that you would say are comparable to Belize with regard to safety?

 

I certainly don't want to put my family in any real danger, but I don't want to miss out on seeing a beautiful country and meeting beautiful people based upon some unfounded fears either.