President Donald J. Trump suggested that the United States send military aid to Mexico after nine U.S. citizens from a Mormon community were killed in an ambush in northwest Mexico. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected Trump’s offer and said Mexico’s strategy to reduce armed violence will not change despite rising homicide levels (Wall Street Journal)
Nine Americans Killed in Mexico
Three women and six children, members of a Mormon family with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship, were killed in an attack in Sonora state yesterday (Washington Post)
Mexican City Besieged After El Chapo’s Son Arrested
Men shot at police and blocked streets with flaming barricades in Culiacan after authorities arrested the son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Security forces later released him (Los Angeles Times)
Ambush Kills Fourteen Police in Mexico
The attack yesterday in the western state of Michoacan, long plagued by drug trafficking and violence, was one of the deadliest against security forces since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December (Reuters)
Twenty-Five People Killed in Attack in Mexico
At least twenty-five people were killed in an arson attack on a bar in southeastern Mexico, in one deadliest criminal violence incidents since Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office (Reuters)
Vigilante Violence Rises in Mexico
In Mexico, vigilante attacks have increased as the government ruled out cracking down on criminal gangs. The National Human Rights Commission reported that a record-breaking forty-three people have been killed in lynchings so far this year, with nearly two hundred others injured (Associated Press)
Murders in Mexico Still on the Rise
Mexican authorities recorded 14,603 murders in the first half of 2019, an uptick of 5 percent compared to the same period last year. Mexico recorded its highest number of homicides on record last year, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to reduce violent crime during his tenure (Reuters)
Mexican Cartel Leader El Chapo Handed Life Sentence
Mexican cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus thirty years and ordered to pay more than $12 billion in forfeiture in a New York court yesterday. The sentencing follows his conviction earlier this year on drug, murder, and money laundering charges (New York Times)
Mexico’s AMLO: Government is ‘Stabilizing’ Crime
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, blamed former government officials who he says colluded with organized crime for the country’s rising murder rate. He said his government would not let the upward trend continue and touted the new National Guard (LAHT)
Homicides Increase in Mexico
Mexico recorded 8,493 homicides in the first quarter of 2019, a 9.6 percent increase from the same period last year. The country reported its highest-ever number of annual homicides in 2018. (Agence France-Presse)
Cartel Trafficker Testifies About Bribe to Former Mexican President
Alex Cifuentes, believed to be a close associate of Mexican cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, said in testimony in the U.S. trial of Guzman that the cartel leader bragged about paying a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. A spokesperson for Pena Nieto called the statement “false and defamatory” (Associated Press)
Mexico’s AMLO Orders Truth Commission
New President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as AMLO) created a truth commission to investigate the disappearances of forty-three students in the city of Iguala in 2014, saying “there will be no impunity” for this case or others. The students are believed to have been attacked by cartel members working with corrupt police officials (Guardian)
Mexico’s New President Announces Security Plan
On his first day in office, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced a public security plan, centered on a new sixty-thousand-strong national guard force, to tackle crime across the country (Reuters)
Mass Grave Found in Mexico’s Veracruz State
A mass grave was located in Veracruz, a state that is home to rival drug cartels Jalisco New Generation and Los Zetas. It is estimated that the new mass grave, found five kilometers from another, could contain over four hundred bodies (Agence France-Presse)
Mexico’s President-Elect Will Consider Legalizing Some Drugs
Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador indicated yesterday that he will consider legalizing some drugs to combat poverty and crime (Reuters)
Authorities Disarm Mexico’s Acapulco Police Force
The entirety of the Acapulco city police force in Guerrero state has been disarmed by federal and state authorities while officials investigate whether the police force has been infiltrated by organized crime. Arrest warrants have also been issued for two city police commanders accused of murder (NPR)
Mexican Congresswoman Kidnapped in Central Hidalgo State
A newly elected Mexican congresswoman was kidnapped by two gunmen on a highway in central Hidalgo state (BBC)
Former Mexico City Mayor Wins Presidential Election
Former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, won Mexico’s presidential election yesterday with 53 percent of votes, according to an initial tally, some thirty percentage points over his nearest contender (Guardian)
AMLO said in a victory speech that he will change the government’s strategy to combat violence and will work with human rights groups to develop a “plan for reconciliation and peace” (Reuters)
Mexican Police Detained After Candidate’s Murder
The entire police force of the Michoacan town of Ocampo was arrested, suspected by federal agents in the murder of a mayoral candidate. More than one hundred politicians have been killed in Mexico ahead of general elections on July 1 (BBC)
Second Mayoral Candidate Killed in Twenty-Four Hours in Mexico
A mayoral candidate in western Michoacan State was killed yesterday less than twenty-four hours after another mayoral candidate in the same state was shot and killed, bringing the number of political aspirants, party officials, and activists killed ahead of the July 1 election to more than 120 (Latin American Herald Tribune)
Arizona Sends Troops to Southern Border
Arizona deployed more than two hundred National Guard troops to its border with Mexico yesterday and said more are on their way (Voice of America)
Texas sent 250 guard members on Friday, two days after U.S. President Donald J. Trump ordered border states to post troops there to boost security (Washington Post)
Trump to Send National Guard to Mexico Border
U.S. President Donald J. Trump plans to deploy the National Guard to “secure our border” from Central American migrants heading northward, the White House said late yesterday. The announcement came as the number of undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border reached its lowest level since 1971, according to the Border Patrol (New York Times)
Los Zetas Drug Cartel Faction Leader Captured
Mexican authorities captured Los Zetas drug cartel faction leader Jose Maria Guizar, or “Z43,” an American citizen. The U.S. State Department reports that annually Guizar is responsible for the importation of thousands of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States (Reuters)
Mexico’s Homicide Total Hits New Record
Mexico recorded more than twenty-nine thousand murders in 2017, topping a 2011 record of 27,213 homicides (Guardian)
Mexicans Reject Amnesty for Gangs, Poll Shows
Two-thirds of respondents do not favor offering amnesty to criminal gang members as a way to reduce violence in Mexico, according to a new poll by the firm Buendia & Laredo. The poll was conducted after left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador floated the idea (Reuters)