Mexico is gearing up for its traditional two-day celebration of Independence Day, in which this year, a woman president will deliver the traditional “Grito” in the capital for the first time ever.
However, while President Claudia Sheinbaum emulates Padre Miguel Hidalgo’s 1810 Cry for Independence on Monday night and presides over Tuesday’s military parade in the capital, several Mexican cities have decided to cancel local ceremonies.
For the second consecutive year, cartel violence has forced the cancellation of Independence Day celebrations in Sinaloa’s state capital.
On Sunday, Governor Rubén Rocha called off all public festivities — concerts, fireworks displays, the “Grito” — planned for Monday and Tuesday. In a social media post, Rocha did not specify the reasons for canceling the events, only saying that he was “exercising the responsibility [of his office] of safeguarding the security and well-being of the population.”
The announcement comes a week after residents of Culiacán, the state capital, staged a massive march calling for peace amid an unrelenting wave of increased cartel violence that has plagued the state since Sept. 9, 2024. The outbreak of the cartel fighting prompted Rocha to cancel last year’s celebrations.
Rocha said that, like last year, his office would instead observe Mexico’s Independence Day by hosting a simple private ceremony to which leaders of the state and local congresses and representatives of the armed forces would be invited.
The mayor of Iztapalapa, Mexico City’s sprawling eastern borough of more than 1.8 million residents, also canceled local Independence Day festivities in the aftermath of the gas tanker explosion that has claimed the lives of 14 people.
With 40 victims still hospitalized, Mayor Aleida Álvarez announced that the traditional celebrations would be replaced with “a respectful and reserved ceremony” during which protocol would be solemnly observed.
In the western state of Michoacán, three municipalities called off their celebrations citing security concerns.
Officials in Zinepécuaro canceled festivities after Saturday’s incident during which members of organized crime blockaded highways and set fire to vehicles to prevent the authorities from carrying out a drug bust.
The mayor of Periban called off the local Grito and parade after a criminal gang released a video in which they threatened to “stir things up.”
Residents of Uruapan will also be deprived of holiday celebrations after local officials canceled the festivities in response to Sunday’s attack on police headquarters that left one officer dead.
The Michoacán state capital of Morelia is also on high alert after a video threat made by a masked man calling himself “Comandante Arango,” who claimed to be a leader of the “Purépecha Army.”
Local officials increased security measures, including the institution of a “No-fly Zone” for drones, declaring that they are taking the threat seriously. On Sept. 15, 2008, eight people were killed and dozens were injured when two grenades were thrown into a crowd during Morelia’s Independence Day festivities.
On Friday, President Sheinbaum reiterated a warning issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, cautioning Mexican nationals in the U.S. to be careful when celebrating Independence Day due to the risk of immigration raids.
Earlier this month, organizers of “El Grito Chicago” canceled the city’s two-day Independence Day festival, citing fears of heightened immigration enforcement.
With reports from Milenio, Aristegui Noticias and El Sol de Morelia
