Mexico violence2018 sets recod for violent death inMexico

In 2018, Mexican police investoigators opened 33,341 murder investigations related to to drug and gang violence, setting a new record, according to the latest data published by the Mexican authorities. The overwhelming majority of those killed were menm but 861 women also lost their lives.

The 2018 figures are the largest since national records began in 1997.

The number is an increase of 15.5 percent compared to all murders in 2017. Mexico logged 28,866 murders in 2017, outpacing the much larger United States, where the FBI recorded 17,284 instances of “murder and non-negligent manslaughter” during the same time.

In the United States, on average, additional 18,500 commit suicicde every year by using a firearm.

Mexico’s population is about 130 million, compared to the U.S. population of about 326 million.

DW notes that Mexico’s long campaign gainst drugs-related violence notwithstanding, the authorities have so far failed to contain organized crime in the country. Drug cartel leaders use bribery, intimidation, and violence to expand their influence among civil servants, law enforcement personnel, politicians, and judges.

Since 2006, when the government deployed the military to fight drug traffickers, more than 200,000 people have been killed, including politicians, reporters, law enforcement officials, NGOs’ activists, teachers, and more.

Analysts say that well over 90 percent of all violent crimes in Mexico go unpunished.

The policy pursued by former president Enrique Pena Nieto stressed taking out and arresting leaders of the crime syndicates, such as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is currently on trial in the United States. That policy was criticized by experts who said that it fragmented the cartels, prompting a “Wild West” infighting among feuding factions.

The infighting meant a higher level of vioioence, with much of that viooence spilling over to civil society.

Mexico’s new president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in office sonce December, is pushing the legislature to adopt a new strategy to combat crime. Obrador wants to create a national guard which would take over a large portion of civilian police duties. The new force would also have civilian leadership.

Last week, legislators in the lower house of Mexico’s parliament backed the national guard plan, but the bill still needs to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the Senate and win over half of Mexico’s 32 state legislatures.