Homicide cases fell slightly in July compared to June but Mexico remains on track to record its most violent year in recent history, statistics show.
There were 2,547 homicide cases last month, according to data published by the National Public Security System (SNSP), nine fewer than in June, which has been the most violent month of the year so far.
A total of 2,993 people were murdered in July. The figure is higher than the number of cases because there were two or more victims in some investigations.
The July homicide statistics show that the National Guard had scant impact in stemming the bloodshed. The new security force was formally inaugurated on June 30 and deployed to 150 regions across Mexico.
The most violent state in Mexico last month was Baja California, where there were 263 intentional homicide cases. México state was next with 215 cases, followed by Chihuahua, Guanajuato and Jalisco, where there were 202, 185 and 169 homicide investigations respectively.
In the first seven months of the year, 20,135 people were killed in 17,164 cases of intentional homicide, a 3% increase compared to the same period of 2018. Last year was the most violent since the SNSP began keeping comparable records in 1997.
The homicide rate increased in 18 of Mexico’s 32 states in the first seven months.
The biggest increase was recorded in Nuevo León, where the number of homicide investigations increased by 59% to 560 from 352 between January and July of 2018.
Homicide cases rose by 48% in Hidalgo, 41% in Sonora, 34% in Morelos, 21% in Jalisco, 19% in México state, 18% in both Tlaxcala and Chiapas and 14% in each of Tabasco and Mexico City.
The other states where homicides have increased this year are Michoacán, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Colima, Coahuila, Puebla and Zacatecas.
The biggest decline in violence was recorded in Baja California Sur, where the number of cases in the first seven months fell 59% compared to the same period last year.
Homicide investigations declined by 58% in Nayarit, 40% in Yucatán, 30% in Guerrero and 29% in Tamaulipas.
The other states where homicide numbers have declined in 2019 are Sinaloa, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Chiapas, Veracruz, Baja California, Campeche, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo.
With just 18 intentional homicide cases between January and July, Yucatán has seen the least deadly violence of any state this year.
There were fewer than 50 cases in both Campeche and Baja California Sur, while the number of homicide investigations in each of Aguascalientes, Durango, Tlaxcala and Nayarit was under 100.
Along with homicides, the number of femicides – women and girls who were killed on account of their gender – also rose.
There were 540 femicide investigations between January and July, a 9% increase compared to the 494 cases in the same period last year.
Veracruz recorded the highest number of cases, with 114, followed by México state with 53, Puebla with 36, Nuevo León with 32 and Mexico City with 26.
Source: El Financiero (sp)
