đ Share this article Daily Homicides in the nation Decline Thirty-Seven Percent In the Sheinbaum Administration, Per Government Data The mean number of per-day killings per month in Mexico has dropped by thirty-seven percent since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, per fresh official statistics. However, security analysts have cautioned that murder numbers could fail to signal improved national security. Significant Reduction in Per-Day Averages Officials reported an average of close to 55 murders a day in the month of November as opposed to almost 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the leadership in the previous September. This information was shared by the chief of the nation's national safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's regular news conference on Tuesday. âThe result in murders that have been recorded over these months is extremely significant,â the President said, adding that in November the least number of homicides were recorded for any single November in the past decade. Recent Context and Official Strategy Violent cartel rivalries, combined with the administration's highly military efforts to take on the trafficking organizations, have made Mexicoâs murder rate escalate in the past few years. The figure reached a peak of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the countryâs national statistics office. That gave Mexico a murder rate more than 4x greater than the United States. However, killings have been on the downward trend, declining to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Claudia Sheinbaum has linked her public safety plan for an apparently steeper drop in killings this year. At a press conference in the summer, the President said: âWe have a strategy, we have monitoring of the plan, and there is specific monitoring town by town in certain cases. The approach works. And we have to keep working at it daily.â The main pillars of Sheinbaumâs safety plan encompass: Reinforcing Mexicoâs federal guard. Enhancing information gathering and investigation capabilities. Increased cooperation between government agencies. Analyst Skepticism and Data Limitations However, security experts warned that focusing solely on murder data to paint a picture of pacification was misleading. This is especially true given the uptick in different crimes such as forced disappearances. âIt would be positive information if this were a decrease, but I think we canât just concentrate on the murder numbers and say: âAlright, great,ââ commented Cecilia FarfĂĄn-MĂ©ndez, an specialist on Mexican cartels. âI would be guardedly hopeful.â As reported by the public policy analysis thinktank Mexico EvalĂșa, homicides in total declined by more than 20% in the first 10 months of this year versus the identical period the previous year. Yet, disappearances have gone up by 15% and in some states have surged by up to 200%. âData on homicides is no longer useful for assessing the reality of insecurity,â said Armando Vargas, a security analyst at Mexico EvalĂșa. âFirstly, we have police and investigators who do not have the capacity or the desire to correctly recognize and classify corpses. Second, organised [criminals] ⊠have the means to hide violence through disappearances.â Vargas added that relying on monthly averages of everyday homicides was similarly problematic because it could mask days when there were notably high levels of killings. âRelying on the per-day mean renders high peaks of violence invisible,â he concluded. Detentions and Confiscations as Measures of Success Where the government can highlight the effectiveness of its safety plan is on arrests and confiscations. Nearly 40,000 individuals were arrested between last October and this past November for serious crimes, per government data. Over 20,000 firearms were taken and 311 tons of narcotics confiscated. âDonald Trump can't claim President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because the reality is she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of confiscations, and all the tactical weakening of criminal groups. Itâs extremely politically profitable,â commented Vargas. Ongoing Unrest and Societal Anger However in spite of these efforts, Mexico is still plagued by extreme bloodshed, with multiple regions in the grip of cartel-related conflict. Last month there was a prominent killing of a well-liked local official in the region of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders assassinated in the past year. Weeks later, thousands of youth took to the streets in the capital and across the nation to express their outrage at graft and narco-violence. âThe government presents [data] in a way to construct a narrative of security. Politically itâs very effective, from a social perspective itâs extremely questionable,â Vargas said.
The mean number of per-day killings per month in Mexico has dropped by thirty-seven percent since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, per fresh official statistics. However, security analysts have cautioned that murder numbers could fail to signal improved national security. Significant Reduction in Per-Day Averages Officials reported an average of close to 55 murders a day in the month of November as opposed to almost 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the leadership in the previous September. This information was shared by the chief of the nation's national safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's regular news conference on Tuesday. âThe result in murders that have been recorded over these months is extremely significant,â the President said, adding that in November the least number of homicides were recorded for any single November in the past decade. Recent Context and Official Strategy Violent cartel rivalries, combined with the administration's highly military efforts to take on the trafficking organizations, have made Mexicoâs murder rate escalate in the past few years. The figure reached a peak of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the countryâs national statistics office. That gave Mexico a murder rate more than 4x greater than the United States. However, killings have been on the downward trend, declining to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Claudia Sheinbaum has linked her public safety plan for an apparently steeper drop in killings this year. At a press conference in the summer, the President said: âWe have a strategy, we have monitoring of the plan, and there is specific monitoring town by town in certain cases. The approach works. And we have to keep working at it daily.â The main pillars of Sheinbaumâs safety plan encompass: Reinforcing Mexicoâs federal guard. Enhancing information gathering and investigation capabilities. Increased cooperation between government agencies. Analyst Skepticism and Data Limitations However, security experts warned that focusing solely on murder data to paint a picture of pacification was misleading. This is especially true given the uptick in different crimes such as forced disappearances. âIt would be positive information if this were a decrease, but I think we canât just concentrate on the murder numbers and say: âAlright, great,ââ commented Cecilia FarfĂĄn-MĂ©ndez, an specialist on Mexican cartels. âI would be guardedly hopeful.â As reported by the public policy analysis thinktank Mexico EvalĂșa, homicides in total declined by more than 20% in the first 10 months of this year versus the identical period the previous year. Yet, disappearances have gone up by 15% and in some states have surged by up to 200%. âData on homicides is no longer useful for assessing the reality of insecurity,â said Armando Vargas, a security analyst at Mexico EvalĂșa. âFirstly, we have police and investigators who do not have the capacity or the desire to correctly recognize and classify corpses. Second, organised [criminals] ⊠have the means to hide violence through disappearances.â Vargas added that relying on monthly averages of everyday homicides was similarly problematic because it could mask days when there were notably high levels of killings. âRelying on the per-day mean renders high peaks of violence invisible,â he concluded. Detentions and Confiscations as Measures of Success Where the government can highlight the effectiveness of its safety plan is on arrests and confiscations. Nearly 40,000 individuals were arrested between last October and this past November for serious crimes, per government data. Over 20,000 firearms were taken and 311 tons of narcotics confiscated. âDonald Trump can't claim President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because the reality is she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of confiscations, and all the tactical weakening of criminal groups. Itâs extremely politically profitable,â commented Vargas. Ongoing Unrest and Societal Anger However in spite of these efforts, Mexico is still plagued by extreme bloodshed, with multiple regions in the grip of cartel-related conflict. Last month there was a prominent killing of a well-liked local official in the region of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders assassinated in the past year. Weeks later, thousands of youth took to the streets in the capital and across the nation to express their outrage at graft and narco-violence. âThe government presents [data] in a way to construct a narrative of security. Politically itâs very effective, from a social perspective itâs extremely questionable,â Vargas said.