International

Mexico has 20 of the 50 most violent cities in the world

The annual index of the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice of 2024, presented this Wednesday in the Mexican capital, determined that of the 50 most violent cities in the world, 20 are in Mexico, including the tourist Acapulco (south) and the border Tijuana (northwest).

“The maximum number of violent cities in Mexico in the ranking so far had been in 2019, with 19 cities,” said José Antonio Ortega, president of the organization, at a press conference.

Likewise, Ortega stressed that of the 10 most violent cities in 2024, seven are in Mexico.

Port-au-Prince, in Haiti, leads the index, with 139.31 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the ‘Ranking 2024 of the 50 most violent cities in the world’.

Then, five Mexican cities continue the list, starting with Colima (west), which in 2022 and 2023 had topped the world index, and in 2024 recorded 126.95 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Immediately, there are the Acapulco tourist resort, with a rate of 102.28 homicides; Manzanillo (west), with 92.17; Tijuana, border with the United States, with 91.35; and Ciudad Obregón (north), with 89.2.

In the top 10 are also the Ecuadorian Machala, the Mexicans Celaya and Zamora, and Puerto España, in Trinidad and Tobago.

In contrast, in 2024, the Honduran San Pedro Sula and Distrito Central left the classification, which for several years were in the first places on the list.

“In this way, no city in Central America is among the 50 most violent in the world,” said René Bolio Halloran, of the Mexican Human Rights Commission.

Bolio pointed out that “to obtain these remarkable achievements, the respective governments did not use excuses, such as poverty, high drug consumption in developed nations or that criminals obtain weapons from the United States.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

“Nor did they resort to negotiating with those who caused the violence, nor did they follow the policy of ‘hugs, not bullets’, or something similar,” he added, referring to the phrase of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024).

Mexico closed 2024 with a total of 30,057 intentional homicides, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%, equivalent to 344 more cases compared to the 29,713 recorded in 2023, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).

Among the violent cities in Mexico that re-entered the list is Culiacán (state of Sinaloa), where last September a war broke out between the main factions of the homonymous cartel, after the capture of capos Ismael ‘el Mayo’ Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López in the United States.

The Mexicans Chilpancingo, Villahermosa and Tapachula also entered, and remained on the list, Cuernavaca, Ciudad Juárez, Uruapan, Irapuato, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, León, Cancun and Morelia.

Followed by Mexico, the countries with the most cities in the index were Brazil (8), Colombia (6), South Africa (5), the United States (5), Ecuador (3), Haiti (1), Jamaica (1) and Trinidad and Tobago (1).

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

In addition, 45 of the 50 cities are in the American continent and the rest in Africa.

For his part, Horacio Rodríguez, of Misión Rescate Mexico, explained that the 50 cities total 40,198 homicides.

He added that this amount of homicides represents 8.2% of the 490,000 that the World Health Organization estimates to occur worldwide, while the sum of inhabitants of these cities represents only 0.91% of the world position.

Throughout Mexico, he said, the average homicide rate in 2024 “is nine times higher than the global average rate of 6.2, which gives an idea of the concentration of violence in the cities of this ranking.”

Finally, Ortega clarified that violence due to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine is not included; and it does not include the missing people, which in 2024 in Mexico were more than 13,000, according to official figures.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”