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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday announced a new security strategy for the violent state michoacanWhere people have taken to the streets to protest the most recent mayor’s murder, the seventh murder in the last three years.
The deadly attack Saturday against Carlos Alberto Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, who gained popularity for his stance against cartels and criminal groups, heightened criticism of the Sheinbaum administration’s security policies and Mexicans’ frustration over violence in some parts of the country. Between Sunday and Monday protests broke out in Morelia, Uruapan and Apatzingan, the capital of Michoacán.
The mayor is particularly sensitive to organized crime groups in Mexico that want to control the area to move drugs and extort residents and businesses.
In response to the outrage and anger generated by the attack, Sheinbaum presented a “Michoacan Plan for Peace and Justice” during his daily news briefing on Tuesday. He said the plan would take a comprehensive approach to strengthening security by addressing the root causes of violence, a key element of the security policies he implemented when he took office a year ago.
Sheinbaum said more National Guard troops and federal agents would be sent to Michoacán to support state police, but he did not specify the number of personnel to be deployed.
During the past few years, the Mexican federal government has sent hundreds of troops to Michoacán, but this has not been enough to control cells of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Familia Michoacana and local criminal organizations operating in the state. Persistent state violence has consistently opposed administration intervention.
Now, as it has sinaloa And Guanajuato says the government will use federal security forces, under the command of Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuchs, to combat organized crime.
As part of the new plan, Sheinbaum said the federal government will send Michoacán’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 such as murder and extortion.
The government hopes to present details of its new plan in the coming days. Sheinbaum said there would be twice-weekly security meetings and alert systems for mayors, promotion of economic development plans, social protection and living wages for farmers, and investments for rural infrastructure, reintegration, victim assistance programs and peace forums.
“We are going to restore peace with justice,” Sheinbaum said. “With respect and hope, peace can be built from the ground up,” Sheinbaum said. “The war on drugs will not come back,” he said.
Last month, Michoacán was rocked by the murder of a popular and outspoken leader of lime growers, who was also a victim of extortion from the cartel.
Manzo’s murder attracted the attention of the United States, including the White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt “We condemn all political violence in all forms, anywhere,” he told reporters at a Tuesday press conference.
Levitt said that the US President donald trump Sheinbaum has great respect for and appreciates the existing security coordination with Mexico, saying “We are constantly pressuring Mexico to do more to combat drug trafficking and drug cartels within their country and we are working with them in any way we can.”
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