By Fabiola Sánchez
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday announced a new security strategy for the violent state of Michoacan, where people have taken to the streets to protest the most recent mayoral assassination, the seventh of the past three years.
The lethal attack Saturday against Uruapan Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo, who had gained popularity for his stance against cartels and criminal groups, fueled criticism of the Sheinbaum administration’s security policies and Mexicans’ frustration with the violence plaguing parts of the country. Between Sunday and Monday protests erupted in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, Uruapan and Apatzingan.
Mayors are especially vulnerable to organized crime groups in Mexico that seek to control territory to move drugs and extort residents and businesses.
In response to the outrage and anger caused by the attack, Sheinbaum presented the “Michoacan Plan for Peace and Justice” during her daily news briefing Tuesday. She said the plan would take a comprehensive approach to strengthen security by addressing the root causes of violence, a key element of the security policies she implemented when she took office a year ago.
Sheinbaum said more National Guard troops and federal agents would be sent to Michoacan to support state police, but she did not specify the number of personnel being deployed.
During the last few years, the Mexican federal government has sent hundreds of troops to Michoacan but it hasn’t been enough to control the cells of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Familia Michoacana and local criminal organizations that operate in the state. The state’s persistent violence has resisted interventions from successive administrations.
Now, as it has done in Sinaloa and Guanajuato states, the government will use federal security forces under the command of Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch to try to combat organized crime.
As part of the new plan, Sheinbaum said the federal government will send Michoacan’s state legislature a proposal to strengthen the state prosecutor’s office by creating an office dedicated to investigating and gathering intelligence on high-impact crimes like homicide and extortion.
The government expects to unveil details of its new plan in the coming days. Sheinbaum said that there would be biweekly security meetings and alert systems for mayors, economic development plans, social security and living wages for farmers would be promoted and investments would be made for rural infrastructure, reintegration, victim support programs and peace forums.
“We are going to restore peace with justice,” Sheinbaum said. “Peace can be built from the ground up, with dignity and hope,” Sheinbaum said, adding that “the war against drugs will not return.”
Last month, Michoacan was shaken by the killing of a popular and outspoken leader of lime growers, who also suffer extortion from the cartels.
Manzo’s assassination drew the attention of the United States, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters in a Tuesday press briefing, “we condemn all political violence anywhere in all forms.”
Leavitt stated that U.S. President Donald Trump has great respect for Sheinbaum and appreciates the existing security coordination with Mexico, adding that “we are continually pushing Mexico to do more to tackle drug trafficking and the drug cartels within their country and we are working with them in any way that we can.”
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