Mexico- October 2022

Multiple homicides of municipal government officials were reported across Mexico during October 2022. Numbers show political violence in Mexico is increasing, with 60 local government officials murdered since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in December 2018. The incidents highlight the flaws in the government’s public security strategy as well as the challenges to contain violence from organized crime and the impunity that has made local politicians vulnerable to such violence.

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC, El Pais, Reuters

Congress has approved a constitutional reform to extend the deployment of the armed forces in matters of public safety from 2024 until 2028. The reform was promoted by the Mexican president, in a context in which the military’s reach has been expanded. The reform was also approved by a majority of local congresses, as required in order to be published and enter into force. The opposition has criticized López Obrador for his creation of the National Guard as a civil security force in 2019 and his recent decision to move it to the armed forces under the Secretariat of National Defense.

Sources: Bloomberg, Courthouse News, Mexico News Daily, Senado de Mexico

Same-sex marriage is now legally recognized in all of Mexico’s 32 states. On 26 October 2022, the state congress of Tamaulipas approved reforms to its civil code to permit marriage for all people over 18 years of age. This move follows similar reforms this month from state congresses in Guerrero, Tabasco, and Estado de México.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Infobae, The Washington Post

Several inconsistencies have been detected in the evidence cited in a report released in August of a governmental commission established to address the 2014 disappearances of 43 trainee teachers from Ayotzinapa. In addition, on 25 September, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office revoked its request of 21 of 83 arrest warrants that had been obtained in August against former officials allegedly involved in the disappearances; included were requests regarding members of the military. The special prosecutor entrusted with the investigation also resigned in October, allegedly over differences with the attorney general over the handling of investigations. Human rights organizations have expressed concern over possible obstruction and further delay in families’ access to truth and justice.

Sources: El Pais, Human Rights Watch, Mexico News Daily, The Guardian, The New York Times