On the eve of Sheinbaum’s new security policy, Mexico feels the brunt of the latest attacks Reuters

By Cassandra Garrison and Diego Oré

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Claudia Sheinbaum will on Tuesday outline her strategy for dealing with Mexico’s dire security situation amid high-profile violence, including the brutal killing of a local mayor on Sunday, that has shocked the country.

Sheinbaum, inaugurated as Mexico’s first female president less than a week ago, is expected to unveil a policy that prioritizes restoring law and order in the deadliest areas plagued by violence linked to drug cartels and organized crime.

Her much-anticipated security plan comes as Mexico reels from the killing of Alejandro Arcos, the mayor of Chilpancingo, capital of violence-hit Guerrero state, who was killed just six days after taking office. Photos circulated on the WhatsApp messaging app and Mexican media outlets on Sunday showing a severed head atop a pickup truck, appearing to be Arcos’s.

The first phase of Sheinbaum’s plan aims to reduce homicides and other serious crimes in 10 areas that account for at least a quarter of homicides related to organized crime, including the dangerous cities of Colima, Tijuana, Acapulco and Celaya, according to a Sheinbaum member. security cabinet who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The southern state of Chiapas, a migration corridor and site of internal fighting between powerful cartels, will also be targeted for permanent security operations and welfare programs aimed at promoting peace, the official said.

It could be a strategic opportunity for Sheinbaum to differentiate herself from her predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” strategy, which opponents say has allowed criminal groups to expand and consolidate.

Arcos’ slaying was being investigated to determine a motive and make “the appropriate arrests,” Sheinbaum said at his regular Monday morning news conference. She added that her security plan will include better coordination with state governors and attorneys general’s offices. Sending the National Guard to the area was a possibility, she said.

Mexico is exceptionally deadly for political candidates and officials, who are routinely targeted by organized crime. The country’s most recent election, in which Sheinbaum won the presidency, was the bloodiest in the country’s modern history, with 37 candidates assassinated before the June 2 vote, several in acts of public violence.

These crimes, like most other homicides in Mexico, rarely lead to successful arrests and prosecutions.

“There is a problem with impunity in Mexico, and until that goes away, until those institutions are stronger, you simply will not be able to guarantee the safety of the candidates,” said Mike Ballard, director of information at the international security firm Global Guardian. .

Mexico’s new government will need to arrest and prosecute more top cartel officials if it hopes to truly stem the power of these groups, Ballard said. He highlighted the American mafia and how its grip on society gradually declined after a series of arrests, convictions and long prison terms in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, Mexico has so far struggled to implement a sweeping crackdown, due to a lack of resources combined with police corruption and military derailment attempts.

Much of Mexican law enforcement is done at the state level, with homicide considered a state crime, and Sheinbaum plans to work with states to improve and restructure their police forces and prosecutors’ offices, the source said.

The new government’s strategy will require a major budget allocation, according to public security consultant David Saucedo, who estimated that security spending should at least double from the current 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Sheinbaum will also have to go smoothly in rolling out his plan, as previous high-profile arrests of drug lords have resulted in extreme violence, complicating the Mexican government’s ability to launch operations without causing a deadly backlash.

For example, legendary Sinaloa trafficker and cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested in the United States in July, sparking an ongoing conflict in the capital Culiacan between the two most powerful factions of the Sinaloa cartel, with regular violence that has killed more than 150 people.

The chaos has sparked protests by citizens demanding that public officials do more to ensure their safety.

“Here we see that organized crime is above the government. It controls the government and it is not the government that controls crime,” Froylan Gallegos Jimenez said while protesting in Culiacan.