International

Despite homicide drop, overall deadly violence remains high in Mexico: study

Violence in Mexico has risen by 70% over the past decade when not only intentional homicides but also femicides, disappearances and other crimes against life are taken into account, the organization México Evalúa said Monday as it presented a report challenging the government’s narrative of a significant drop in crime.

The document, titled “Violence in Mexico, 2015–2025: Data Analysis and Proposals for Peace,” was introduced by México Evalúa’s executive director, Mariana Campos. She explained that the study incorporates five key indicators of “lethal violence”: intentional homicide, negligent homicide, femicide, disappearances and other crimes against life. “How a problem is measured determines how it is addressed,” Campos said, adding that the aim of the report is not to dismiss the federal government’s strategy but to offer a broader view of violent phenomena.

According to the report, more than 72,000 incidents related to lethal violence were recorded in 2025, an increase of 68.2% compared with 2015. While official figures point to a 40% drop in intentional homicides since September 2024 — when Claudia Sheinbaum took office — the organization’s analysis suggests the overall reduction across all indicators is only about 8%.

Armando Vargas, coordinator of México Evalúa’s security program, said the study seeks to make visible all forms of deadly violence. “Although intentional homicide shows a recent decline, other crimes remain high and in some cases are even increasing,” he warned.

In detail, the report says intentional homicides have fallen 22.2% since 2024 but remain 30.7% above 2015 levels. By contrast, negligent homicide — usually linked to accidents — has increased 7.7% since 2015 and shows “anomalous growth” that could reflect problems in the classification of violent deaths.

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The category of “other crimes against life,” which includes incidents that are difficult to classify, has surged 370% over the past decade, with particularly sharp increases in states such as Baja California Sur (6,606%), Baja California (916%), Tabasco (694%) and Sinaloa (88%). According to Vargas, these figures may point to “statistical reclassifications” rather than a real decline in violence.

Femicide has dropped 15.5% since 2024 but still stands 68.5% above 2015 levels, especially in areas marked by impunity and the presence of organized crime, such as Sinaloa and Morelos.

As for disappearances, the report underscores their relevance as a method of concealing crimes. Although the figure has edged down 0.5% since 2024, the increase since 2015 amounts to 213%, with critical hotspots in Sinaloa (150%), Sonora (168%) and Baja California (5,728%).

International

MEPs Approve Plan That Could Fast-Track Rejection of Some Asylum Claims

With an overwhelming majority of 408 votes in favor, the European Parliament backed the creation of a list of safe countries of origin for asylum seekers.

People coming from Colombia, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia who apply for asylum in the European Union could see their requests rejected on the grounds that the bloc’s 27 member states consider those nations safe. Applicants would have to prove their individual circumstances, showing evidence of persecution or specific risks if they were to return.

At the same time, while their applications are processed or their return is arranged, migrants could be transferred to third countries outside the EU if the bloc has an agreement with them, if the individuals previously transited through those nations, or if they have family or cultural ties there. The measure provides legal cover for the creation of processing centers beyond EU territory, similar to an initiative previously pursued by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Albania.

Tuesday’s vote reflects the tightening of European migration policy in recent years, despite asylum applications having fallen by more than 20% last year and the issue not ranking among citizens’ top concerns, according to recent surveys.

International

Chile Unveils Latam-GPT to Give Latin America Its Own AI Model

Chile on Tuesday launched Latam-GPT, an initiative aimed at providing Latin America with its own artificial intelligence model in a field largely dominated by U.S. companies, while seeking to reduce biases identified in existing systems.

The project is led by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), a private corporation funded with public resources.

Latam-GPT is backed by universities, foundations, libraries, government agencies and civil society organizations from across the region, including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

“Thanks to Latam-GPT we are positioning the region as an active and sovereign player in the economy of the future. We are at the table — we are not on the menu,” President Gabriel Boric said during the presentation of the initiative on national broadcaster Televisión Nacional.

The tool aims to break down prejudices and prevent Latin America from being portrayed as a single, uniform reality, Chile’s science minister, Aldo Valle, told AFP.

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The region, he added, “cannot be merely a user or passive recipient of artificial intelligence systems. That could result in losing a significant part of our traditions.”

Despite its name, the initiative is not an interactive chatbot. Instead, it is a large regional database trained on Latin American information that can be used to develop technological applications, the minister explained.

International

Mexico Rises Slightly to 141st in Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2025

Mexico improved by one point in its rating and climbed to 141st place in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published Tuesday by the anti-corruption organization Transparency International, which gave the country a score of 27 out of 100.

The slight increase in score comes after Mexico recorded its lowest CPI result in history in 2024 during the final year of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term, also scoring 27 out of 100. The CPI is widely regarded as the main global measure of perceived public-sector corruption, where 0 represents high corruption and 100 denotes very low corruption.

Within the region, Mexico ranks above only Guatemala (26), Paraguay (24), Honduras (22), Haiti (16), Nicaragua (14) and Venezuela (10), but trails key economic peers such as Brazil (35) and Chile (63).

Among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico ranks last. In the G20 grouping, it sits in the penultimate position, ahead of only Russia. Experts say Mexico’s persistently low score reflects ongoing challenges in curbing corruption and protecting public funds.

Transparency International’s report also highlights structural corruption issues that have allowed organized crime to infiltrate politics and weaken governance, as well as risks to journalists covering corruption.