January Most Violent Month the State of Guerrero Has Suffered in Past Three Years Rita Varela Mayorga - Sin Embargo
go to original February 3, 2016

Héctor Astudillo, Governor of Guerrero (Cuartoscuro)

The first month of the new year was a 31-day nightmare for citizens of Guerrero, as 147 people were killed, some of whom were minors, including mass killings that shook not just the locals, but the entire country.

Just last December 10th, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, head of the Secretariat of Government Relations, visited Acapulco and promised business owners and state leaders that the federal government would deploy forces in a quicker and more effective manner in order to control crime, as part of Operation Safe Guerrero.

In April 2011, when said plan was initiated under President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa’s government, the state ranked third among places with the highest incidence of murders. Since 2012, Guerrero made the leap to first place and so far has not been able to shake this disgraceful place.

Since then, billions of pesos have been set aside to revive the state’s ailing economy, as it is one of the poorest and marginalized states in the country. This year, federal investment added up to 11 billion pesos [US$595 million] to develop public works, potable water, schools, roads, etc.

The federal government has also placed thousands of agents from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), Federal Police, the Gendarmerie, the Secretariat of National Defense (Army) and the Navy (Semar) in the streets of major cities and even in some communities with major conflict in Guerrero.

From the point of view of business owners, academics, civil society groups and residents, none of this has helped. The result remains: January was the most violent month the state has suffered in the past three years, and the months to come don’t hold any promise of being less bloody.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Translated by Amanda Coe

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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