Last month was the least violent October since 2016, according to federal government data on homicides.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez presented statistics at President López Obrador’s Tuesday press conference that showed there were 2,404 homicides last month, a 13.2% decline compared to October 2022.

She noted that it was the lowest homicide count for the month of October in seven years.

Homicides fell 4.7% compared to September, during which 2,524 murders were recorded.

Data showed that there were 25,004 homicides between January and October, a 4.2% decline compared to the 26,092 recorded in the first 10 months of last year.

Just over 47% of the homicides this year occurred in just six states. Guanajuato was the most violent, followed by México state, Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco and Michoacán.

Murder numbers have declined on an annual basis in four of those states.

Homicides in Guanajuato, which has been Mexico’s most violent state in recent years, fell 1.8% between January and October compared to the same period of 2022, while Baja California recorded an 11.1% drop. Murders decreased 6.4% in Jalisco and fell 29.5% in Michoacán.

México state and Chihuahua were the only states among the six most violent where homicides increased in the first 10 months of 2023. The former recorded a 1.4% increase while murders rose 2.2% in the latter.

Baja California Sur recorded the lowest number of homicides among Mexico’s 32 federal entities in the first 10 months of the year with just 22. Four other states recorded fewer than 100 murders between January and October: Yucatán (28); Aguascalientes (74); Durango (83); and Campeche (87).

Rodríguez highlighted that homicide numbers have trended downwards during the current government’s six-year term, whereas they increased while former presidents Vicente Fox (2000-2006), Felipe Calderón (2006-12) and Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-18) were in office.

Homicides are down 18% in 2023 compared to the first full year of López Obrador’s presidency, according to the data she presented, whereas murder numbers increased 1.6% between the first and last years of Fox’s administration, 192.8% during the Calderón-led government and 59% during Peña Nieto’s rule.

Despite the downward trend recorded since the current government took office in late 2018, López Obrador’s six-term will go down as the most violent on record, with almost 172,000 homicides to date.

Rodríguez also presented data for a range of other crimes. Among those whose incidence declined in the first 10 months of 2023 compared to the same period of last year were people smuggling, financial crimes, femicides, organized crime offenses, kidnappings, cattle theft, muggings, robberies of businesses and home burglaries.

Among those whose incidence increased were firearm offenses, tax crimes and truck robberies.

“Almost all federal jurisdiction crimes declined significantly,” Rodríguez said, adding that the “majority” of common jurisdiction offenses also decreased.

Mexico News Daily