• Mexico. "The war on drug trafficking is over"
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A total of 34,579 murders in one year, 94 every day, almost four every hour, one every 15 minutes. These are the data recorded by the Ministry of Public Security from December 1, 2018, the day López Obrador assumed the Presidency of Mexico, until November 30, 2019. The 'Pax Narca' decreed by the new Government seems having had an opposite effect to the desired one and, although for many it is premature to draw conclusions, the perspectives are bleak.

In the absence of knowing the data of the last month of the year, 2019 has already exceeded all the records made since 1997. The homicide rate has skyrocketed in regions not accustomed to such violence, such as Guanajuato or Mexico City, and has remained on the rise in border regions where migratory pressure has increased especially in recent months, such as Baja California or Chihuahua. Interestingly, the day after the countdown was closed, on December 1, it was the bloodiest day of the year, with 127 homicides, also coinciding with the celebration of López Obrador's first anniversary at the head of the country.

A lethal 2019 for women

Published statistics do not contemplate feminicides, as gender violence is known in Mexico. Since López Obrador assumed the Presidency and until November 30, 967 women have died violently in the country. Neither the gender alerts decreed in the capital of the country nor the awakening of feminist movements, which this year have repeatedly come out to demonstrate, have served to stop the bleeding.

The growing insecurity in the country is reflected in virtually all indicators of violence. Kidnappings have increased by 33% over the previous year, with 1,801 open investigation files and sexual crimes, of which more than 47,000 complaints have been filed. The rate of this type of aggression that has grown the most is sexual abuse, with an increase of 52.5%.

Narco war

Throughout the year, there have been several multiple deaths that have undoubtedly helped trigger all the indicators. Several of them have registered in discos: on January 6, seven dead in a bar on the tourist beach of Carmen; on March 9, 15 killed in another bar in Guanajuato; on April 19, 13 dead in the attack on a party hall in Veracruz, and in the same state, on August 28, 23 dead after the attack with Molotov cocktails at the 'White Horse' disco. Most of them related to the violence of drug cartels, who continue to live their particular dispute over control of the territory, protected by 'the end of the war on drugs.'

The most obvious example of this new strategy was lived last October in Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa, where security forces launched a failed operation to stop Ovid Guzman, son of the damned 'Chapo' Guzman. After being able to surprise him in his luxurious home, the minions of the Sinaloa cartel launched a surprising display of force that took the authorities by surprise. After besieging the state capital and, after threatening to kidnap family members of the military who participated in the operation, the López Obrador government opted to free Ovid.

The clashes left at least 14 dead and more than 21 wounded, although the total number is uncertain since the hitmen were able to withdraw their fallen combatants in time. The Secretary of Security, Alfonso Durazo, acknowledged that it was a "poorly planned operation" and that the decision to release Ovid took place to "not fight the fire with more fire", since "it would have caused many more deaths."

On November 4, the last great tragedy of the year occurred: 3 women and 9 children from a Mormon community installed in the border state of Sonora killed, according to the latest investigation, for the violence of the drug cartels. The first year of López Obrador's six-year term will also be remembered for the tragic outbreak of an oil pipeline that left 137 dead on January 18, the creation of the National Guard, scholarships extended to students and seniors, the historical review of the conquest of Mexico, but, above all, because of the incipient violence.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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