MEXICO CITY, April 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Violence in Mexico hit new heights
in the first quarter of 2019, with 8,493 murders recorded from January to
March, according to official figures.
According to the Executive Secretariat of the Public Security National
System, that number represents a 9.6 percent rise on the same period in 2018.
Last year was considered the most violent in Mexico’s history, with over
33,500 murders — the highest number since records began in 1997.
The new record contradicts claims by leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador that murders have not increased during his presidency, which began in
December.
At a Navy event Sunday, Lopez Obrador defended the creation of a National
Guard, his key strategy to fight the wave of violence that has engulfed
Mexico since the government declared war on the country’s powerful drug
cartels in 2006.
“What concerns us the most is guaranteeing public safety,” he said. “That
is why a reform of the constitution was proposed so that the army and the
navy can help us.”
The National Guard is due to take over policing duties given to the
military.
Mexico has recorded nearly 250,000 murders since deploying the army,
including last year’s record as the newly fragmented cartels battle the
military and each other, with widespread collateral damage.
Lopez Obrador was a long-time critic of the deployment and vowed to end it,
but since he assumed office it has continued.