International
Mexico’s southern border becomes the most insecure area in the country
The main city on Mexico’s southern border, Tapachula, has become the municipality with the highest perception of insecurity in the country, in the midst of the organized crime dispute over the control of drug trafficking and people from South America, activists tell EFE.
Nine out of 10 inhabitants of this city, 91.9%, perceive that this city is unsafe, which places it in first national place in the National Survey of Urban Public Security (ENSU) published this week by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEgi).
Roberto Alejandro García, representative of the entrepreneurs of the Pedestrian Trail in Tapachula, assured EFE that the municipality is one of the most unsafe in the country for the last three years in the face of crime and the lack of control of migrants on the southern border.
The business leader said that “lately they kill people even in the center, either with bullets, machetes, stabs, and not only in the center, but in all the surroundings and colonies (neighborhos).”
“Now, currently, there are deaths every day in Tapachula, because the authorities are not able to cover Tapachula. We have 20 years with the same amount of elements that monitor, that is an irresponsibility of the state and federal government,” he said.
Between a ‘war’ and the high flow of migrants
Tapachula is the second largest city in Chiapas, a state on the southern border where the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) warned on Monday in a statement of a “civil war” scenario due to forced displacement, homicides and forced disappearances that occur in the face of organized crime disputes.
On the other hand, the mayor of Tapachula, Yamil Melgar Bravo, said last week that the municipality concentrates 60% of migrants in Mexico, where irregular migration rose by 193% year-on-year in the first half of the year to exceed 712,000 people nationwide, according to the Government’s Migration Policy Unit.
Teodoro Vázquez Castillo, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Federation of the State of Chiapas, regretted that all citizens are worried because they perceive “horrible” security.
“One of the factors is migration and the rest, I don’t know if with it, brings the boom of drugs, smuggling of women, of migrants who are extorted. All the northern gangs came to operate in Tapachula, I don’t know if there is no authority that marks a stop,” he said.
Promise of attention at the southern border of Mexico
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, denied on Tuesday that there is an atmosphere of “war” in Chiapas, where she said that her government is working so that “there are no displacements and pacify and avoid extortion and crimes that are occurring.”
But the director of the Center for Human Dignity (CDH), Luis Rey García Villagrán, pointed out that the southern border faces a crisis of insecurity and human rights, since citizens do not have confidence in any of the police corps, the streets are in dim and the surveillance cameras never work.
“The robberies of passers-by, extortion, executions, shootings, mass kidnappings, express kidnappings that did not exist, there are many canteens, drug sales,” he said.
The activist said that in Tapachula there is a fluctuating population of 70,000 unregistered people of more than 20 nationalities, so “corrupt” policemen, he denounced, take advantage of migrants.
The director of the ‘Belén’ shelter, César Augusto Cañaveral, asked for security for the migrant shelter, which also fears being a victim of organized crime.
International
Claudia Sheinbaum: Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Was Based on Pending Arrest Warrants
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday rejected claims that the military operation that resulted in the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was carried out under pressure from the United States government.
Sheinbaum explained that the deployment of federal forces was aimed at executing outstanding arrest warrants against Oseguera Cervantes, who was considered one of the most wanted criminals in both Mexico and the United States.
“That was not the objective (to ease pressure from the United States). It is very important, and I want to repeat it. This individual had an arrest warrant, or several,” Sheinbaum said, referring to the operation conducted on February 22.
According to the president, the initial goal was to capture Oseguera Cervantes, but military forces responded after coming under attack during the intervention.
“The operation was to detain him. The problem is that they were attacked — the Secretariat of National Defense — and they responded at that moment,” she said.
The president insisted that the action was not carried out in response to external demands, although she acknowledged intelligence cooperation with the United States.
“It was not done in any way because of pressure from the United States, not at all. Of course, there was intelligence information from the United States that was used specifically,” she concluded.
International
Spain Denies Any Agreement to Cooperate with U.S. Military in Iran Operations
Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Wednesday firmly denied that Madrid has agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military in operations against Iran, contradicting statements made minutes earlier by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“I categorically deny it,” Albares said in a radio interview cited by EFE. “The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombings in Iran, and the use of our bases has not changed by a single comma.”
Earlier in the day, Leavitt told reporters that Spain had “agreed to cooperate with the United States military in recent hours,” following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a trade embargo on Madrid. Trump had warned of economic measures after Spain reportedly refused to allow the Pentagon to use facilities at Spanish bases for operations related to Iran.
“I have no idea what that could be referring to or where it could be coming from,” Albares said, insisting that Spain’s position “has not changed at all” and therefore “remains absolutely unchanged.” He added that he had “no desire” and “almost no time” to speculate about the White House spokesperson’s remarks.
Albares reiterated Spain’s “No to war” stance, which he said had been clearly and forcefully expressed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in an institutional address. According to the foreign minister, that position has been supported by “many European colleagues.”
International
White House Says Spain Agrees to Cooperate with U.S. Military After Trump Threatens Trade Embargo
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Spain has agreed “in recent hours” to cooperate with the U.S. military, following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a trade embargo on Madrid.
Trump had warned of potential commercial measures after Spain reportedly refused to allow the Pentagon to use facilities at Spanish military bases for operations related to Iran.
“With respect to Spain, I think you heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear, and I understand that in recent hours they have agreed to cooperate with the United States military,” Leavitt said during a press briefing.
She added that the U.S. military is currently coordinating with its counterparts in Spain. However, the president expects broader support.
“The president expects that all of Europe, all of our European allies, of course, will cooperate in this important mission — not only for the United States, but also for Europe,” Leavitt said.
Her remarks came in response to questions about Spain’s position and its role as a U.S. ally amid rising tensions surrounding operations involving Iran.
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