( Spanish) – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Wednesday downplayed reports of violence and insisted his government was acting “responsibly” in the face of a wave of violence that began Sept. 9 with clashes between two groups allegedly linked to organized crime in Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.
“We are acting in a professional and responsible manner. There are members of the Armed Forces in Sinaloa whose mission is first, and most importantly, to protect the civilian population, all citizens, and second, to prevent the groups that are in conflict from clashing,” López Obrador said during his daily morning press conference on Wednesday.
At least 43 people have died since September 9, according to data from the Sinaloa Prosecutor’s Office, which on Wednesday reported eight deaths, including seven men and one woman.
López Obrador’s statements came after General Jesús Leana Ojeda, commander of the Third Military Region, said on Monday that peace in the state did not depend on the Mexican Armed Forces, but on the groups involved in the clashes.
The violence in Sinaloa forced the governor of the state, Rubén Rocha Moya, to suspend classes on September 12 and 13 in the municipalities of Culiacán, Elota, Cosalá and San Ignacio. He also suspended the celebrations for the Grito de Independencia, which were planned for September 15.
Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday backed López Obrador’s controversial “hugs, not bullets” policy against drug trafficking. “What would be provoked if we enter into a violent confrontation? Probably more violence. So that’s why it’s a different strategy,” she said on Tuesday.
As of October 1, the date on which she takes office, Sheinbaum will become the first female commander of the Mexican Armed Forces.
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