• SAFETY: More than 460 residents of the small municipality of Zirándaro (pop. 18,000) in the southwestern state of Guerrero traveled to the border with the US seeking asylum due to heightened violence between criminal organizations in the region, local authorities say.
• CARTELS: Pushed by a conflict between groups affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, hundreds of residents of Zirándaro -right by the state border with Michoacán in the Tierra Caliente region- have fled seeking safety including to the US.
• THOUSANDS: “To date we have a record of more than 3,000 people from the municipality who have emigrated to other places because of the violence (…) Zirándaro is in the eye of the hurricane”, Gregorio Portillo, the mayor of Zirandaro, told reporters in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state.
• DISPLACED: According to a recent tally to the José María Morelos Human Rights Center, there are 6,500 displaced people in Guerrero due to increased violence. Around 87% of asylum claims by Mexican nationals were rejected by US authorities in fiscal year 2019.
