Mica for cartelinsider.com
On January 29, 2024, journalist Jorge Ramos Ávalos confronted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador over the figures of 166,000 intentional homicides that had occurred in Mexico, as well as questioning the “hugs, not bullets” security strategy implemented during the administration of the Tabasco politician.
“Well, I respect your point of view a lot, but I don’t share it, because I have a different vision and I also have other data,” responded the national leader to the journalist, who accused the current government of being the most violent in history, due to recording a daily average of 80 people murdered.”
In his first intervention -during the presidential morning press conference, held from the Treasury Room of the National Palace-, Ramos Ávalos sparked controversy by stating that the homicides that occurred during President López Obrador’s term were more than those recorded during the administrations of Enrique Peña Nieto and Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa.
“I know you have said that there is a downward trend, but the data is the data. The death toll under your administration is much higher. More people have died than during Peña Nieto and Calderón’s time. Can you acknowledge that your strategy of militarization has failed, and has brought more violence? What would you recommend to the next president?” the journalist insisted.
“That is your vision and the vision of our opponents. Mexico is indeed a peaceful country, we are protecting it, but we will not agree. You are a journalist, I am a ruler, we have different visions, I believe that this [what my government has done] is progress,” emphasized Lopez Obrador.
The national leader stated that it was important to contextualize the current data on intentional homicides in Mexico, and boasted that during his administration, a 20% decrease had been achieved. He explained that the murders occurred in “localized” places, such as in the case of Guanajuato.
“Out of the 80 that you mention, up to 15 percent, which is 10 out of 80, in Guanajuato, where conservatism has been in power for 30 years, and is defended by many who are against us,” accused López Obrador.”
“We have progressed in that way and what we want is to prevent drug consumption, because where there is more violence, this, to a large extent, is clashes between gangs to compete in the drug trade market […] I don’t know what happened there, to the point that there are more homicides in Guanajuato than in Sinaloa,” said the president.
“Well, I respect your point of view a lot, but I don’t share it. I have a different vision and different data. I will show you those data in a different way, intentional homicides. It depends on how you see things, it’s your recurring question,” insisted the Tabasco politician.”
“You say: if you add up the numbers, it results in more deaths, well yes. We just have to take into account where we start. This is one part, violence is related to robberies and kidnappings, which we have generally advanced in. It is not a reason for us to change. We maintain that peace is the fruit of justice,” stated Lopez Obrador.
In the face of this, the head of the Federal Executive Power affirmed that the true tragedy was not the one that Mexico was suffering, but the one that was being experienced in the United States, with the fentanyl crisis. He added that the US had become a more dangerous country than the Mexican Republic and he was worried about the social decomposition that this nation had reached.
“No, no, a real tragedy and a sad thing is happening where you live in the United States, where 100,000 young people die each year due to fentanyl consumption. You cannot call this [in Mexico] a tragedy […] No, no [Mexico is not the most dangerous country for journalism], I would say that the United States is more dangerous,” stated the politician from Tabasco.
“We, this, if we continue with the same policy we are going to solve it, I bet my goose. If we continue with the same policy of supporting young people, fair salaries, we will solve [the violence]. I am worried about the situation in the United States, that is linked to social decay, Mexico is a cultural power,” said the Mexican president.
“The cultures of Mexico are what have always saved us and what is happening in the United States is a cultural decline. They may be a military power and have atomic bombs, but facing the fentanyl pandemic will not be easy. Now it’s fentanyl, but another drug will emerge, the problem is there, a loss of values. So, if you come to tell me that [Mexico] is the most dangerous, that is not true,” said the Mexican president.
“It is a peaceful country where there is growth, where there is employment, where there is well-being, and 500,000 Americans have come to live in Mexico City,” commented the head of the Mexican Federal Executive Power.
López Obrador requested that the comparative graph of intentional homicides per six-year period be projected, in which he highlighted a 20 percent reduction in said crime, between 2018, when there were 36,685 intentional deaths registered, against those of 2023, which rose to 29,675.
“We arrived here: 59 percent increase, it was very difficult for us because it practically remained the same for two years until it began to decrease in the third year and now in 23, we already have a decrease of 20 percent from when we arrived,” he highlighted.”
According to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), during the government of the Tabasco politician there were a total of 166,193 intentional homicides, making it the most violent six-year period in history, surpassing both the administrations of Calderón Hinojosa and Peña Nieto, which had a total of 120,463 and 156,066, respectively. In addition, when including the 4,892 femicides during the current administration, the total number of violent deaths was 171,085.
The president explained that, in addition to addressing the root causes of violence in the country, from Monday to Friday he personally attended to the problem of insecurity, something that, according to him, no other national leader had done before. He also emphasized that his administration did not have officials like Genaro García Luna, former head of the Federal Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) during the Calderón Hinojosa administration.
López Obrador also referred to the figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) published a few days earlier, in which it was revealed that deaths from heart disease were the leading cause of death nationwide during the period of January-June 2022.
“The main cause of death in our country are heart attacks and I am deeply sorry, we are doing everything we can to prevent it. Homicides occupy the eighth place in causes of mortality,” highlighted the national leader, who believed that if the policy of addressing the underlying causes continued beyond his government, the problem of violence could be solved.
“If we continue with the same policy, we are going to solve, I would say that I get tired, goose. I won’t have enough time because I have eight months left, but if we continue with the same policy of attending to young people who were not being attended to, with the same policy of guaranteeing people the right to work, to fair wages, we will solve […] What we are doing is making us satisfied because the crime rate has been decreasing […] I hope to finish by September [2024], with a 25 percent decrease,” he stated.
“We inherit a forbidden fruit of insecurity,” responds AMLO to Jorge Ramos.
On July 5th, 2021, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that his government was having difficulties in reducing the number of intentional homicides in the country. He argued that this was due to inheriting “a rotten fruit” from the previous administration.
“Of course, it is not an easy matter and I have already explained that it was the rotten fruit we inherited and it is not that I am blaming the previous presidents without reason […] We have made progress, and now I have other data, it is not a bubble because I do not like self-deception, that is for demagogues and hypocrites,” the national leader stated.
“We have difficulty in reducing the crime of homicide as much as we would like to […] It is not that I am blaming the previous presidents without reason [….] Furthermore, it is well known that the management of security was practically in the hands of criminals and this has been going on for a long time,” he argued.
The politician from Tabasco indicated during his morning press conference that there was “a difficulty in reducing the crime of homicide”, but they had managed to contain the growth that was happening and even “there is a decrease” in what had been happening during his administration.
In response to journalist Jorge Ramos Ávalos’ question, the president insisted that there were now more reports and it was being recognized that there had been an increase, “but it must be taken into account that cases of femicide and murders of women were not considered in previous governments.”
“There is a big difference now compared to before, when crimes were committed with no punishment and there was impunity and corruption, but now it’s different and it’s not a simple matter, but we are making progress,” added López Obrador.
“What you present as a success and an achievement is not true. In December 2018, your first month, there were 2,892 intentional homicides, and in May 2021, there were 2,963. There is no change,” said the journalist, who worked for the Univision network and Reforma newspaper.
“I think you were given the wrong numbers, I have different data. We will give you the data and I just reported that in the first day of the time we have been in office, there has been a minimal decrease, I repeat, of 3 percent in the case of homicide,” defended the president, in response to the claims of Ramos Ávalos, that the information was obtained from the Federal Government’s website.”
“It’s just that I don’t agree with you, I respect what you say, but I don’t share it and I feel that it’s a bias to question our government. There is no problem because we have a clear conscience,” López Obrador concluded.
Thanks for reading!
Mica
Email: mica@cartelinsider.com
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