Federal security officials attended President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference to present the government’s fortnightly update on the prevailing security situation in Mexico.
Later in the mañanera, Sheinbaum responded to a question about her personal security arrangements.
Homicides down since Sheinbaum took office
Marcela Figueroa Franco, head of the National Public Security system, presented the latest homicide data.
She reported that Mexico recorded an average of 58.3 homicides in the first 21 days of April, according to preliminary data provided by the country’s 32 state Attorney General’s Offices.
Figueroa highlighted that the figure represents a “preliminary reduction” of 32.9% compared to last September, the final month of the six-year term of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The data she presented showed that homicides declined on a month-over-month basis in each of the first three months of the Sheinbaum administration. After an uptick in January, murder numbers resumed their downward trend in February.
Figueroa also presented data showing that homicide numbers have decreased every year since 2021.
Preliminary data showed that Mexico recorded an average of 72.3 homicides per day between Jan. 1 and April 21, a 12% decline compared to the daily average across 2024.
Figueroa highlighted that murder numbers are down 28.1% in 2025 compared to 2018, a year in which Enrique Peña Nieto was president for the first 11 months.
The reduction in homicides this year comes after the federal government presented a new security strategy in October. Compared to the previous federal government, the Sheinbaum administration has demonstrated a greater willingness to proactively combat organized crime groups, and has also moved to strengthen investigation and intelligence practices.
Guanajuato still Mexico’s most violent state
Figueroa also presented preliminary data that showed that Mexico recorded 1,225 homicides in the first 21 days of April.
Guanajuato — Mexico’s most violent state in terms of total murders in recent years — saw 145 homicides in the first three weeks of the month, accounting for 11.8% of total homicides in April. Various criminal groups operate in the Bajío region, including the homegrown Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Those criminal groups have been fighting each other for years.
After Guanajuato, the most violent states in Mexico so far this month are:
- México state: 101 homicides
- Sinaloa: 84 homicides
- Jalisco: 80 homicides
- Guerrero: 75 homicides
- Michoacán: 74 homicides
- Baja California: 72 homicides
Figueroa noted that 51.5% of all homicides this month occurred in the aforesaid seven states.
Mexico City recorded 52 homicides in the first 21 days of the month, making it the country’s 12th most violent entity. Two states — Durango and Yucatán — haven’t reported any murders so far this month.
Almost 19,000 arrests for ‘high-impact crimes’
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch, survivor of a 2020 cartel attack in Mexico City, spoke about a range of results the federal government has achieved since Sheinbaum took office on Oct. 1.
He said that:
- Authorities have arrested 18,712 people for “high-impact crimes” such as murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking and extortion.
- Authorities have seized 144 tonnes of drugs, including over 2 million fentanyl pills.
- Authorities have confiscated more than 9,600 firearms.
- The army and navy have “destroyed” 839 clandestine drug labs across 17 states.
García subsequently acknowledged that a federal security agent died on Monday after he was shot in the city of León, Guanajuato.
“Our heartfelt condolences to his family. The death of our colleague won’t go unpunished. There are already two people arrested,” he said.
‘One can’t move away from the people’
A reporter told Sheinbaum that people have expressed concerns to him about her personal security given the “great results” in security her government has achieved and the fact that she “continues to walk the country” like any other citizen.
The implication was that the president could be vulnerable to an assassination attempt during her weekend tours when she gets up close and personal with supporters in various parts of the country.
Despite the perceived (and perhaps real) risk expressed by the reporter, Sheinbaum said she won’t change her approach, one modeled on that of her predecessor and mentor, AMLO, who mixed with Mexicans from all walks of life, and no doubt benefited politically from his penchant for doing so.
“One can’t move away from the people,” the president said.
“The day we distance ourselves from the people is the day we stop being a government of the people and for the people,” Sheinbaum said.
“So we’re going to remain close [to the people], particularly on weekends,” she said.
AMLO famously declared that “the people will protect me” after he took the decision to largely eschew a personal security detail. He instead enlisted a team of mainly young unarmed assistants to look out for any security risks, a task they didn’t always execute as well as they might have hoped.
Sheinbaum also has a team of assistants (collectively called la ayudantía) who assist her in security matters.
“There are 15 of them, or fewer,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
She noted that the National Guard is “sometimes” present on the highways on which she travels during her tours of the country.
“There is a presence of the Guard, in general,” she added.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
