Neither the mining drama, nor the economy, nor education, nor health, nor energy policy. Nothing seems to detract from the social esteem of Prime Minister Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who this week again unveiled international polls that place him at the top of the world’s best-rated leaders list. However, Mexico has one quality that also puts it in the first global places, but it’s nothing to brag about: the tremendous violence that ravages the territory, with about 30,000 deaths a year. And that keeps the ruler in suspense and brings the social networks to a boil. The insecurity the populace has been experiencing these days, with businesses and public and private transportation torched in several states, prison riots and random shootings that have left up to 11 dead in Ciudad Juárez, is something that worries a stunned country Idea: Violence is between criminals.
The shots this week, while not the first, were not aimed at the fixed target they call organized crime: in the same way, by sheer deduction, journalists, merchants, prisoners and a four-year-old child have died . And that worries the National Palace. “That is the most unfortunate thing about this matter because it is something that has not been presented and hopefully will not happen again because the innocent civilian population was attacked as a form of retaliation. It wasn’t just the confrontation between two groups, but there came a time when they started shooting civilians,” the president said in his morning conference.
By then, violence had raged in Jalisco and Guanajuato, but Ciudad Juárez laid the victims down a few hours later. And the President’s speech was followed by a day of relentless vandalism at four points in Baja California. Authorities soon got to work and public safety reported arrests in those areas. Up to 17 between Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada and Playa de Rosarito to name a few. Another joint operation between all levels of military forces in Michoacán was announced on Saturday, seizing a total of 164 detainees and dozens of weapons. The matter still lies in a dark fog, with more questions than answers.
In any case, the safety of the population now seems to be the concern of the government, which has taken some, albeit controversial, steps in this direction. The announcement that the National Guard would become a military corps under the full direction of the Secretary of Defense has sparked an ongoing debate that raises important issues to consider: the militarization of public life, well, the streets of every city; the advantages or not that this can de facto have in the fight against violence or even corruption, of which the military is not exempt from sin; and obscurantism when accountable for their actions, eventual abuse of power.
The statements released this week by Senator Ricardo Monreal also testify to the uneasiness that bullets create in everyday political life, both for the government and for the party that supports it, Morena. Uncomfortable and critical character in the ranks of Morena, yes. But still “in full agreement” with his support for the president, he believes that “it is necessary that the three powers of the union and the three levels of government give way to an immediate and thorough review of the security strategy implemented by the federal government.” “.
A change in the security policy of the federal government is not expected to be announced. It will be necessary to take a look at possible shifts in the traditional discourse of hugs instead of bullets, which is always addressed by a president who, as a candidate, has attempted to distance himself from the policies of his predecessors on the matter. And in concrete political measures that break away from the apathy he has been accused of by his opponents.
The 2024 presidential elections are fast approaching and López Obrador has reiterated that this date will be the start of his political retirement, but not before showing that both he and his government team are “different”. Corruption is one of their constant battlegrounds, but the drop in insecurity in the country will be proof that the right decisions have been made. And in recent years, the results say little or nothing in this regard. “I don’t think accidents like the one with the mine will hurt his popularity, rather it may work in his favour, he’s in this debate. He even visited the scene of the accident, which he has never done before, although he was asked to do so,” for example, at the tragedy of the subway line 12, which claimed 26 lives, says Parametria analyst Francisco Abundis. In his view, it is the insecurity that can throw him off course. “So far the discourse has been that they kill each other, that violence is a drug thing and has nothing to do with citizenship, as if the state has no responsibility for the rest. But what happened in Ciudad Juárez refutes his arguments,” Abundis continues. “There he had no choice but to realize that what happened was unusual.”
Now we must see how the President’s hurt words after the furious attack on the populace who ate at a pizzeria, asked for a job at a store or bought supplies translated into a change of strategy against the crime that swept its power without complexes also unfolded in front of the barracks.
Meanwhile, López Obrador continues to show the stats that make him one of the most valued in the world. “Modi from India was always first, last week he was 10 points ahead of me and now it’s only five or six, five points. I apologize because you are very upset [a los adversarios políticos] and they will have breakfast,” he said this week in the morning. With a rocky smile, he reveled in the graphic’s international popularity. “See, that’s how we are, that’s from yesterday, that’s all presidents, that’s them, how many? 22”.
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