Mexico says protest was organized by a drug gang and a cartel car bomb killed National Guard officer – By Associated Press (Chron) / July 11, 2023
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican security officials claimed Tuesday that a demonstration that blocked the main highway to the resort of Acapulco and led to the abduction of government officials was organized by a drug gang.
They also said that a National Guard officer had been killed by a car bomb set by a cartel in an earlier attack elsewhere.
The violence suggested that Mexico’s crime problem continues to be dire, despite President Andrés Manuel López Obrador exaggerating how much he has reduced the number of homicides since taking office in December 2018.
Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez credited López Obrador on Tuesday for a 17.5% decline in the number of homicides. In fact, about 11% of the decline happened in the final months of his predecessor’s term. In the 4 1/2 years López Obrador has been in office, homicides have edged down by only about 7%, but remain at historically high levels.
