10/26/11 – 18 days after a military operation called Coordinated Operation for a Secure Guerrero (Operación Cordinado Guerrero Seguro) was launched on October 6 to control the escalating violence in the resort city of Acapulco, murder rates have declined 42% said Mexican President Felipe Calderón at the inauguration of a Guerrero mining convention.
According to data provided by the federal government’s Department of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, SSP), homicides declined from 4.2 in a day to between 2.4 and zero on certain days. The increasing cartel violence reported in Acapulco, Guerrero and the state of Veracruz forced federal authorities to recently launch a number of military actions and clean up the state and local police offices. Calderón’s strategy in Guerrero, he said, was to strengthen the public security force and their capacity to carry out operations, purge and re-institutionalize security agencies, give attention to the education sector, and reinstate social values.
“You are not alone; your problems are our problems,” concluded Calderón to the residents of Acapulco. Guerrero Governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero supported Calderón’s statements, adding that violence in the state has decreased overall in the past few months. Although “Guerrero Seguro” has shown early signs of improvement in the state, the operation will continue in effect due to the risk of a resurgence in violence as cartels continue to vie for the territory and drug trafficking routes.
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The Mexican government has implied that the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity is in danger of being coopted by political parties. This article shows that Calderon is trying to coopt the Peace Movement. The cry that he used in his speech in Acapulco, “You are not alone!” is from the Movement, called out to victims of the drug war when they tell their stories. The Movement’s Caravan to the South was in Acapulco on Sept. 10, and many victims testified of their losses and pain.