President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Irapuato, a city in Guanajuato known as “the strawberry capital of the world.”
Unfortunately, the city is also known for violence, ranking as Mexico’s 50th most violent municipality in 2025 based on its per capita homicide rate.
Guanajuato, meanwhile, was once again Mexico’s most violent state in 2025 based on total homicides.
However, at Sheinbaum’s Friday mañanera, security officials provided some hope for residents of the Bajío region state, presenting data that shows that homicides are down and that thousands of alleged criminals have been detained over the past 16 months.
Later in the press conference, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch spoke briefly about the apparent abduction case involving the mother of a well-known television presenter, while Sheinbaum explained why she opposes the proposed abbreviation of a new political party.
Homicides decline 62% in January
National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa presented preliminary data that showed there was an average of 4.45 homicides per day in Guanajuato in January, a reduction of 62% compared to the same month of 2025.
She highlighted that the daily murder rate in Guanajuato in January was the lowest for any month since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024.
Figueroa also reported that the state’s average daily homicide rate was 7 in 2025, down 19% from 8.6 in 2024.
Sheinbaum acknowledged that Guanajuato still ranks. No. 1 for murders among Mexico’s 32 federal entities, but described the reduction in homicides as “very significant.”
Most of the homicides in Guanajuato are related to organized crime. Various crime groups operate in the state, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Lima de Rosa, which have been fighting each other for years.
More than 4,000 arrests in Guanajuato since Sheinbaum took office
García Harfuch told reporters that improving the security situation in Guanajuato has been a priority for the federal government since Sheinbaum took office.
The security minister reported that 4,400 people were arrested in the state between Oct. 1, 2024, and Feb. 15, 2026.
García Harfuch said that more than 5 tonnes of drugs and over 6,400 firearms were seized in Guanajuato in the same period.
He noted that homicides in Guanajuato began to decline significantly after the arrest in March 2025 of nine people accused of homicide and various other crimes in the state.
‘No indication’ that Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother is in Mexico
Later in the press conference, a reporter noted that a U.S. media outlet — TMZ — reported that the FBI had contacted Mexican authorities in relation to the search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, a co-anchor of NBC News’ morning show “Today.”
TMZ reported that “our sources say the FBI believes it’s possible Nancy was taken across the border, but it’s unlikely it happened directly after the kidnapping.”
According to The New York Times, authorities have said they believe Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1.
García Harfuch said that Mexican authorities contacted the FBI and found out that “there is no line [of inquiry] that points to Sonora” or anywhere else in Mexico as being locations of interest in the investigation into Guthrie’s whereabouts.
He stressed that there is “no indication” that Guthrie had been brought to Mexico.
Sheinbaum: ‘You can’t use a person’s name’ for a political party
A reporter noted that the National Electoral Institute (INE) didn’t rule against a federal deputy’s plan to use the initials CSP for a new political party he plans to create.
The legal department of the president’s office asked the INE to disallow the use of CSP as the abbreviation for a political party called Construyendo Sociedades de Paz (Building Peaceful Societies) as those letters are the initials of the president, whose full name is Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
“How can an organization bear the initials of the president?” Sheinbaum asked.
“That’s why the [legal] department presented this request,” she said before noting that the challenge against the use of the CSP initials would now be taken to the Federal Electoral Tribunal.
“My initials aren’t so well known, but imagine if a political party called itself AMLO,” Sheinbaum said, referring to ex-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“… You can’t use a person’t name,” she added.
The deputy attempting to use the initials CSP for his political party is Hugo Eric Flores, founder of the now-defunct Social Encounter Party.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
