Spike in Mexico Murder Rate Poses Major Test for Embattled Pena Nieto Whitney Eulich - The Christian Science Monitor
go to original September 30, 2015

Mexicans registered their dissatisfaction with the Peña Nieto government before the opening of a new year of legislative session in early September in Mexico City. (Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

The murder rate in Mexico grew this year for the first time since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in 2012, a stinging statistic for an administration that’s boasted about the success of its security policies in combating homicides.

Despite high profile cases like the disappearance of 43 teacher’s college students last year, which implicated elected officials, public security forces, and organized crime, murder rates had been trending down since the previous administration's war on drug cartels.

But since January, homicides have gone up 5 percent, reports The Wall Street Journal. And in Mexico City alone, the increase was 21 percent, climbing to 566 murders, on track for a rate of roughly 14 murders per 100,000 people. That poses a major challenge to the embattled Mexican president.

Read the rest at The Christian Science Monitor

Related: Increase in Murders in Capital Stokes Fears That Brutal Drug Gangs Have Grabbed Foothold (WSJ.com)

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