In a shootout between a police patrol and a criminal gang on Monday in one of Mexico’s most violent states, Guanajuato, at least ten members of the gang died and three police officers were injured. TASR writes according to an AFP report. Security forces used “legitimate and reasonable force” and seized a dozen firearms, several stolen vehicles and ballistic vests, according to the statement.
The violence in the state of Guanajuato was caused by the conflict between the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel and the Jalisco New Generation, which is one of the most powerful gangs in Mexico. More than 450,000 people have died in Mexico as a result of drug-related violence since 2006, when the government deployed the military to fight drug trafficking, according to official figures.
Gang-related violence continues after Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, takes office on October 1, 2024. The president ruled out a declaration of war on the cartel and suggested continuing the strategy of fighting crime through social policy and better use of intelligence services. This tactic was also promoted by her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO after the initials of his name.
