• INCREASE: The number of homicides in Mexico keeps rising with 28,741 victims reported between January and October of this year (a 2.1% increase compared to the same months in 2018) according to new Government data. 2019 is on track to become the most violent year in Mexico’s recent history.
• STATES: Responding to different crime phenomena by region -like drug trafficking, fuel theft, extortion rackets, among others- violence in Mexico during 2019 has being concentrated in five states: Guanajuato, Baja California, Estado de México, Jalisco y Chihuahua.
• GUANAJUATO: The central state of Guanajuato (pop. 5.8 million) has seen a turf war between two crime groups since 2017: the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (according to Lantia Consultores) which is the driver behind the 2,865 homicides this year.
• RECOMMENDATION: “It is now up to López Obrador to lay the foundations for a gradual rebuilding of state capacities. In the meantime, short-term law enforcement measures are important to arrest the trend toward broader, deeper conflict in Mexico”, said the International Crisis Group in October.
