Navarro warns Nayarit officials against criminal agreements

Reporting and context

Nayarit Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero warned public officials, mayors and police against making agreements with organized crime or allowing criminal activity to operate under institutional protection, according to Meridiano de Nayarit.

Navarro said he had found stolen goods being sold at a business just meters from a municipal government office in one of the state’s 20 municipalities. He called the situation unacceptable and said public servants could not act as though they did not see what was happening around them.

Meridiano de Nayarit reported that his appeal extended to municipal administrations, the state government and police forces. He urged employees to fulfill their responsibilities and prevent their positions from being used to benefit criminal activity.

The governor argued that criminal groups had gained ground over decades because some governments tolerated them. He described that permissiveness as a threat to established institutions and said officials were there to serve the public.

Navarro also recalled warnings he said he delivered during the 2005 election campaigns at what was then Plaza de los Constituyentes, now Plaza Benito Juárez. He said he had warned that failing to elect honest officials could turn political competition for government into struggles between criminal groups for territorial control.

He closed by warning that electing officials without a commitment to society endangered families and younger generations, and urged citizens to act together to protect themselves.

Original reporting: Meridiano de Nayarit.