Mexico's most terrorized city is in the state of Zacatecas
Audio 02:31
Members of the National Guard patrol the Zacatecas-Fresnillo highway after a series of recent attacks and clashes between criminal groups, in Zacatecas state, Mexico in July 2021. © AP / Marco Ugarte
By: Antonella Francini Follow
2 min
In Fresnillo, the war between cartels kills dozens of people every month.
Bodies are found on the street and the inhabitants live in terror of a violence that no government has been able to reduce.
96% of its inhabitants do not feel safe, compared to 66% in the country.
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From our correspondent in Mexico,
“
Every day we have one, two, three deaths.
Not a day without executions.
Rigoberto has lived in Fresnillo all his life.
This is not his real name.
Like most of the inhabitants of Fresnillo, he lives with fear on a daily basis.
An insecurity perception survey shows that the city is the most frightened of the 84 chosen.
Rigoberto is also a news journalist.
One evening, a few months ago, he was told that a man had been shot dead a few streets in the city center: “
I always make the sign of the cross in front of my images of God and of Jesus.
Before going out to cover an event.
I ask them to give me a hand because I never know where I'm going.
"
There, Rigoberto recognized the body of his brother.
To his knowledge, he was not involved in any illegal business.
The person responsible has not been found.
Charred or crucified bodies
In the city, some walls bear bullet holes and traders complain that they are seeing fewer and fewer customers.
In the state of Zacatecas, bodies were found charred, dismembered, hanged, quartered or crucified.
The origin of this violence which has degenerated in recent years is said to be a territorial conflict between two of Mexico's largest cartels.
Sinaloa, the historical organization of Chapo Guzman, and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, arrived on the chessboard in 2010 and already present in a large part of the territory.
36,000 assassinations in 2020
The mayor of the city, Saúl Monreal, explains that the State, in the heart of Mexico, is a strategic place: “
I asked the governor of the State and the President of the Republic for more presence of the National Guard. and the army.
Fortunately, they listened to our requests.
"
But the mayor is also betting on youth integration programs.
“
I am convinced that crime prevention also comes with sport, culture and youth events.
Fresnillo is a center of natural development: we have the first silver-producing mine in the world.
"
Since the war on drug trafficking began in 2007, neither the strategies of armed confrontation nor the current policy of appeasement of President Lopez Obrador have succeeded in reducing the violence.
Last year 36,000 people were murdered.
That is four times more than in 2007.
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