President Claudia Sheinbaum announced at the start of her Tuesday morning press conference that she would read out “a document related to Michoacán.”
“[It’s] a proposal I’m making to … the people of Michoacán and the people of Mexico,” she said.
Sheinbaum read out the as yet incomplete proposal three days after the assassination of the mayor of Uruapan has the title “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice.”
Protesters who took to the streets of Uruapan, Morelia and other parts of Michoacán after the murder of Mayor Carlos Manzo on Saturday night demanded that authorities act to put an end to the violence that plagues various parts of the state.
In short, they want what Sheinbaum believes — or at least hopes — her proposal can achieve: peace and justice in Michoacán, one of Mexico’s most violent states.
Plan Michoacán
Sheinbaum said that Plan Michoacán will be a “comprehensive strategy based on a deep conviction: that security is not achieved with wars, but with justice, development and respect for life.”
“Peace is not imposed with force,” said the president, a fierce critic of former President Felipe Calderón’s militarized war on drug cartels that was launched in Michoacán in late 2006.
“It is built with people, with communities, with the daily work of those who love their land,” she said.
This week, Sheinbaum said, “we’re going to listen to the communities, to the traditional authorities, to the churches [and] to the productive and social sectors in order to strengthen the plan with their insight and experience.”
She said that the final version of Plan Michoacán would be presented “in the coming days,” but noted that it will contain “at least three” core tenets:
- “Security and justice.”
- “Economic development with justice.”
- “Education and culture for peace.”
“We are going to restore peace with justice, protect our communities, and we are going to show that peace can be built from the ground up, with dignity and with hope,” Sheinbaum said.
“Peace with justice for Michoacán and for all of Mexico,” she said.
Sheinbaum enumerated “some ideas” her government has for Plan Michoacán.
In the realm of “security and justice,” those ideas include:
- Increasing the presence of federal forces in Michoacán.
- Presenting a proposal to the Congress of Michoacán and to the state attorney general aimed at strengthening the state Attorney General’s Office via the creation of a “Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Investigation and Intelligence on High-Impact Crimes.”
- Establishing offices of “the presidency of the republic” in various municipalities in Michoacán, “especially Uruapan.”
- Holding fortnightly security meetings between Michoacán authorities and members of the federal government’s security cabinet.
In the realm of “economic development with justice” the government’s ideas include:
- Guaranteeing social security benefits and “decent salaries” to day laborers on farms and other workers involved in export-oriented agricultural activities. (Michoacán is Mexico’s largest producer of avocados, grown by farmers who work in an export-focused sector that is a top target of extortionists.)
- Increasing investment in “rural infrastructure.”
- Reaching an agreement with the productive sector in Michoacán “for the development of more well-being hubs.” (The government is establishing Economic Development Hubs for Well-being — essentially industrial corridors — across Mexico.)
In the realm of “education and culture for peace” the government’s ideas include:
- Establishing “schools for culture and peace.”
- Providing scholarships to university students to help them cover transport expenses.
- Establishing new community centers “for sports and well-being.”
- Establishing “regional centers for culture and memory.”
Plan Michoacán, as outlined by Sheinbaum, appears in various ways to be an extension of both the government’s national security strategy and its ambitious Plan México economic initiative.
Sheinbaum acknowledges anger over murders of mayor and lime growers’ leader in Michoacán
Sheinbaum noted that there is “a lot of indignation” among residents of Michoacán — and Mexico — due to the murder of the Uruapan mayor last Saturday and of Bernardo Bravo, leader of the Apatzingán Citrus Growers Association, last month.
There is also anger due to “some other events of this type” that have been perpetrated by organized crime groups in Michoacán, she said.
Outspoken anti-crime mayor assassinated in Uruapan, Michoacán’s second-largest city
Sheinbaum said that her government “shares” the indignation felt by residents of Michoacán — anger that was expressed in no uncertain terms on Monday by protesters who set the Municipal Palace in Apatzingán on fire.
In response to that anger, the president said that her government is presenting “this comprehensive plan, Plan Michoacán.”
Although additional federal forces are set to be deployed to Michoacán, Sheinbaum asserted that there is no similarity between the nascent Plan Michoacán and “the war against el narco” that Calderón launched in Michoacán shortly after he took office in December 2006.
“This is very different, it’s a comprehensive plan,” said Sheinbaum, who asserted that the government has the resources required to fund it.
The president, following in the footsteps of her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, blames Calderón and the war against cartels he initiated for creating much of the violence that continues to plague Mexico today. Homicides increased sharply during Calderón’s six-year presidency and murder numbers, despite some fluctuations, have remained high ever since.
Sheinbaum responds to a NBC News report on a ‘potential’ US military mission in Mexico
A reporter asked the president about NBC News’ report that stated that the Trump administration has begun planning a “potential mission” on Mexican soil that would target Mexico’s notorious drug cartels.
“It won’t happen, it won’t happen,” Sheinbaum declared.
“We have a security understanding that we worked on for many months with the United States government and that we agreed upon when the Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] was here,” she said.
Report: Trump administration is planning a manned mission to fight cartels in Mexico
“We will continue working within the framework of this understanding, which has very clear principles,” Sheinbaum said, noting that they include “respect for our sovereignty and our territorial integrity” and “collaboration and coordination without subordination of either state.”
Therefore, a U.S. operation against cartels inside Mexico “won’t happen,” she said.
“We have no report that it will happen. Furthermore, we disagree,” Sheinbaum said, adding that she has conveyed Mexico’s view on U.S. military action south of the border to President Donald Trump.
“In telephone calls, he has said to me: ‘Don’t you need help? We’re willing to send troops and other mechanisms to help you in the fight against organized crime.’ And I’ve always said, ‘Thank you President Trump, but no. Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country,'” she said.
“… So it’s been made clear that we don’t agree with any process of interference or interventionism. … We collaborate and we coordinate, but we’re a sovereign country,” Sheinbaum said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
