On the eve of Sheinbaum’s new security policy, Mexico is being ravaged by the latest attacks

Mexico City, Mexico
Reuters

President Claudia Sheinbaum will present her strategy on Tuesday to tackle Mexico’s dire security situation, against a backdrop of high-profile violence, including the brutal killing of a local mayor on Sunday that shocked the country.

Sheinbaum, inaugurated less than a week ago as Mexico’s first female president, is expected to unveil a policy that will prioritize restoring law and order in the deadliest areas plagued by violence linked to drug cartels and organized crime. crime.

A member of the Mexican military stands guard at the site where a body was found by residents near an irrigation canal on October 7, 2024, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. PHOTO: Reuters/Carlos Sanchez.

Her long-awaited security plan comes as Mexico reels from the assassination of Alejandro Arcos, the mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Mexico’s violence-wracked state of Guerrero, who was killed just six days after taking office. Photos circulated on the messaging app WhatsApp and in Mexican media on Sunday showing a severed head on top of a pickup truck, resembling that of Arcos.

The first phase of Sheinbaum’s plan aims to reduce homicides and other serious crimes in 10 areas that account for at least a quarter of homicides linked to organized crime, including the dangerous cities of Colima, Tijuana, Acapulco and Celaya, according to a member of Sheinbaum’s plan. security cabinet that declined to be identified because it was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The southern state of Chiapas, a migration corridor and site of infighting among powerful cartels, will also be targeted for permanent security operations and welfare programs aimed at promoting peace, the official said.

It could be a strategic opportunity for Sheinbaum to differentiate herself from her predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” strategy, which opponents say enabled criminal groups to expand and strengthen.

Arcos’ killing is under investigation to determine the motive and make “corresponding arrests,” Sheinbaum said Monday at her regular morning news conference. She added that her security plan would include better coordination with state governors and attorneys general. Sending the National Guard to the area was a possibility, she said.

Mexico is exceptionally deadly for political candidates and officials, who are routinely targeted by organized crime. The country’s most recent elections, in which Sheinbaum won the presidency, were the bloodiest in the country’s modern history. In the run-up to the June 2 elections, 37 candidates were murdered, some of them in brazen acts of public violence.

These murders, and most others in Mexico, rarely result in arrests and successful prosecutions.

Chilpancingo Mayor Alejandro Arcos poses for a selfie photo at the undisclosed location, in this handout image obtained on October 7, 2024. PHOTO: Alejandro Arcos via Facebook/presentation via Reuters

“There is a problem with impunity in Mexico, and until that goes away, until those institutions are stronger, you simply cannot guarantee the safety of the candidates,” said Mike Ballard, director of intelligence at the international security firm Global Guardian. .

Mexico’s new government will need to actively arrest and prosecute more top cartel officials if it hopes to truly curb the power of these groups, Ballard said. He pointed to the American mafia and how its hold on society gradually diminished after a series of arrests, convictions and lengthy prison sentences in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, Mexico has so far struggled to carry out a major crackdown as a lack of resources combined with corruption in the police and military caused attempts to derail.

Much of Mexican law enforcement takes place at the state level, with murder considered a state crime. Sheinbaum plans to work with states to improve and restructure their police forces and prosecutors, the source said.

The new government’s strategy will require a large budget allocation, according to public security adviser David Saucedo, who estimates that security spending will need to at least double from the current 6% of gross domestic product (GDP).

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Sheinbaum will also have to tread carefully in the rollout of her plan, as previous high-profile arrests of drug lords have led to an aftermath of extreme violence, complicating the Mexican government’s ability to launch operations without provoking a deadly response.

For example, legendary Sinaloa trafficker and cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested in the United States in July, leading to an ongoing conflict in the capital Culiacan between the two most powerful factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, with regular violence involving more than 150 people.

The chaos has sparked citizen protests demanding that government officials do more to ensure their safety.

“Here we see that organized crime is above the government. It controls the government and not the government controls crime,” said Froylan Gallegos Jimenez while protesting in Culiacan.

– Additional reporting by JESUS ​​​​BUSTAMANTE in Culiacan