In the third quar­ter of 2024, Mexico’s secu­rity situa­tion con­ti­nues to face sig­ni­fi­cant cha­llen­ges, par­ti­cu­larly due to the ongoing influen­ce of orga­ni­zed cri­me. Below is a sum­mary of the most rele­vant deve­lop­ments from July to Sep­tem­ber 2024:

1. Vio­len­ce in Gue­rre­ro Inten­si­fies Gue­rre­ro has emer­ged as one of the most vio­lent sta­tes in recent months, with homi­ci­des rising by 47% com­pa­red to the pre­vious quar­ter. The esca­la­tion is attri­bu­ted to turf wars bet­ween rival car­tels for con­trol of drug pro­duc­tion and dis­tri­bu­tion rou­tes. The fede­ral govern­ment has sent addi­tio­nal mili­tary rein­for­ce­ments to the region in an attempt to sta­bi­li­ze the situa­tion, but vio­len­ce remains ram­pant, affec­ting both urban and rural areas (El Uni­ver­sal).
2. Per­cep­tion of Inse­cu­rity Con­ti­nues to Grow The natio­nal per­cep­tion of inse­cu­rity has reached 64%, reflec­ting a gro­wing lack of con­fi­den­ce in public safety. Cities like Aca­pul­co, Ira­pua­to, and Eca­te­pec have repor­ted par­ti­cu­larly high levels of fear among resi­dents, with gang vio­len­ce and armed rob­be­ries being sig­ni­fi­cant con­tri­bu­tors. Des­pi­te efforts to curb cri­me, the per­cep­tion gap bet­ween actual cri­me sta­tis­tics and public sen­ti­ment con­ti­nues to widen (Refor­ma).
3. Increa­sed Tar­ge­ting of Jour­na­lists and Acti­vists From July to Sep­tem­ber, the­re has been an alar­ming rise in attacks on jour­na­lists and human rights acti­vists, par­ti­cu­larly in the sta­tes of Michoa­cán and Tamau­li­pas. Seve­ral high-pro­fi­le cases of inti­mi­da­tion, threats, and vio­len­ce have brought inter­na­tio­nal atten­tion to the safety of tho­se repor­ting on orga­ni­zed cri­me. Autho­ri­ties have announ­ced new pro­tec­ti­ve mea­su­res, but the res­pon­se has been cri­ti­ci­zed as insuf­fi­cient by civil rights orga­ni­za­tions (Ani­mal Polí­ti­co).
4. Impact on Tou­rism and Local Eco­no­mies The ongoing vio­len­ce has begun to affect key eco­no­mic sec­tors, inclu­ding tou­rism. Coas­tal sta­tes like Quin­ta­na Roo have repor­ted a noti­cea­ble decli­ne in inter­na­tio­nal tou­rist arri­vals, par­ti­cu­larly in areas near regions pla­gued by car­tel-rela­ted vio­len­ce. Local busi­nes­ses have expres­sed con­cerns about the long-term impact on eco­no­mic reco­very efforts post-pan­de­mic, esti­ma­ting los­ses of over $1 billion in tou­rism reve­nue this quar­ter alo­ne (Info­bae).
5. Govern­ment Stra­te­gies and Public Deba­te The Mexi­can govern­ment has con­ti­nued to deploy mili­tary and Natio­nal Guard units across the country’s most vio­lent regions, but the effec­ti­ve­ness of the­se mea­su­res remains under scru­tiny. Public opi­nion is divi­ded, with some calling for a more aggres­si­ve approach, whi­le others demand grea­ter invest­ment in social pro­grams to address the root cau­ses of cri­me. Deba­tes over the futu­re of Mexico’s secu­rity stra­tegy have beco­me a focal point as the country pre­pa­res for the 2024 gene­ral elec­tions (Mile­nio).

The­se deve­lop­ments high­light the ongoing secu­rity cha­llen­ges Mexi­co faces as orga­ni­zed cri­me con­ti­nues to exert sig­ni­fi­cant influen­ce on both public safety and the broa­der eco­no­mic lands­ca­pe.