Continuing Violence in Mexico

01/14/11
Latin America and the Caribbean
Violence
  • 2010 saw 15,273 deaths in Mexico, according to new estimates put out by the Mexican government this week. Judging by recent violence this week, it doesn't look as though this year will be faring much better, with a new report by the Citizen Council for Public Security and Justice claiming that almost one-quarter of the world's most dangerous cities are now in Mexico.
  • Over the weekend, 51 people were murdered throughout Mexico, including 15 who were decapitated in the resort city of Acapulco.
  • An unidentified man was found murdered on the highway to Acapulco on Monday, bringing the four-day death toll in the city to 31.
  • A new map of drug cartel territories created by Stratfor, a security analysis company, and published by The Economist this week shows the lines of territory blurring and the cartels spreading into Central America.
  • On Tuesday, Abraham Ortiz Rosales, the mayor of Temoac, was assassinated. He was the second mayor assassinated since 2011 began.
  • Tuesday also saw two Mexican federal investigators injured in Cuidad Juárez, with one of the men receiving an estimated 10 gunshot wounds. It was reported that the two were injured while trying to arrest the suspects.
  • The body of Cuidad Juárez activist Susana Chávez was identified this week. The activist was murdered last week, although it is not believed that her murder is related to her activism.
  • Monterrey, Mexico's richest, and formerly one of its safest, cities, has seen an upswing in violence in recent months, a trend that doesn't seem to have slowed down since the beginning of the new year. Thursday, the ninth police officer was killed in just two weeks.
  • Mayor Luis Jimenez Mata of Santiago Amoltepec in Oaxaca state was gunned down on Thursday, making him the third mayor killed so far this year.
  • In good news, police arrested Julio Enrique Ayala Munoz on Thursday, who they claim is the link between the Colombian Comba drug gang and the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

This post was written by CIP Intern Erin Shea.