Drugs and human trafficking are at the heart of Mexico’s raging violence

– Where are the hotspots? –

Instability has presented Sheinbaum with an immediate and enormous challenge.

In addition to the killing of Chilpancingo Mayor Alejandro Arcos on Sunday, a month of violence in Sinaloa has left more than 150 people dead, while a wave of killings has shaken the central state of Guanajuato.

The industrial center, about the size of Belgium, is home to multinational companies such as General Motors, Mazda and Honda.

Guanajuato is also the most violent state in the country.

The latest spike in bloodshed is due to a “counter-offensive” by the Sinaloa cartel and its allies against Jalisco New Generation, which dominates the region, security expert David Saucedo said.

Violence has also escalated in the state of Chiapas, located on Mexico’s southern border, which the think tank InSight Crime describes as “a major smuggling center for both drugs and migrants.”

There, the violence coincided with the Jalisco New Generation’s incursion into areas that were once Sinaloa Cartel strongholds, the report said.

In Guerrero, several gangs are fighting for control of routes used to bring drugs by sea.

In the north, border cities such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Reynosa are among the most dangerous in the world due to violence linked to drug and migrant smuggling into the United States.