Murders attributed to organized crime broke a record in August at 2,290, a 77.8% increase over the same month last year.

It was the third month in a row with over 2,000 such murders — there were 2,264 in July and 2,249 in June.

With 240 murder cases, Guanajuato topped the list of the most violent states, followed by México state with 206, Baja California 196, Veracruz 176, Jalisco 167 and Michoacán 128.

The month’s most striking case, however, is that of Veracruz, which saw one of the year’s worst massacres when an attack on a nightclub in Coatzacoalcos left 30 dead and 13 injured.

The attack bumped the murder rate in the state by 35.3% over the previous month.

Although Michoacán saw just one more murder than in July and did not surpass its June total of 140 cases, it also stood out in August for two grave instances of violence linked to narco-trafficking.

The first was on August 8 when the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) left 19 bodies hanging from an overpass in Uruapan. The second was Friday’s gun battle in Tepalcatepec between the CJNG and a rival, Juan José “El Abuelo” (The Grandfather) Farías Álvarez, which left nine dead.

Guanajuato is the battleground between the CJNG and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. The bitter rivalry sent the state’s homicide rate up to 240 cases, shattering July’s total of 185.

Despite the historic levels of violence, federal Public Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo told a press conference on Friday that Mexico is getting closer to achieving peace, while admitting that the government’s anti-crime strategy has not yet delivered.

Source: Milenio (sp)