With nearly 2,500 homicides, May was the worst month of the year

May was the deadliest month so far in 2019 with 2,476 homicides, according to the National Public Security System (SNSP).

The most violent month this year had been January when 2,457 people died violent deaths.

Although there were fewer homicides in May 2019 than in the same month last year, the first five months of 2019 were worse than the same period in any year for which the SNSP has data, registering 4.26% more homicides than the first five months of 2018.

Of the 2,476 homicides committed in May, 1,758 were committed with firearms and 209 with blades.

With homicides in general on the rise, femicides have remained steady throughout 2019, with 73 gender-motivated murders of women in May, the same number as in February.

Kidnappings jumped to 107 in May, compared to 78 in April, but the number was still lower than in January, when there were 142.

Last year, there were 28,957 homicides, the most violent year in Mexico since the SNSP started keeping records in 1997. But if the trend of the last five months continues, 2019 will set a new record.

Guanajuato continues to lead in homicides, recording 1,181 in the first five months the year, more than any other state. Much of the violence is related to fighting between the New Generation Jalisco Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel for control over fuel theft and other crime.

President López Obrador has said that crime rates in general have been controlled. In April he said that new social programs and security policies would bring a decline in homicides over the next six months.

The federal government has deployed the National Guard in strategic areas to combat violence and insecurity. The priorities are the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, México state, Guerrero, Mexico City, Veracruz and Morelos.

Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)