Itzel Quiroz, the mayor of Uruapan in Greece, conveyed the residents’ dissatisfaction with the security situation to Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Halfchi this Thursday during his first visit to Michoacán after presenting the federal government’s pacification plan for the state. “Popular sentiment is fed up. There is social fatigue and social distrust (…) There is no hope for the (federal) government anymore,” Quiros said at a press conference, days after taking office to replace her husband, Carlos Manzo, who was shot and killed in early November. The mayor also reiterated his intention to continue the movement started by Mr. Manzo to combat crime and insecurity in Uruapan.
Quiros met with Halfuchi, Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Vedra and other local governments in the territory a few hours earlier. He cited the secretary’s visit and urged federal authorities to attack hills “where we know criminals have been found.” “All we want is for our people to work freely and with confidence, and it does us no good to have them walking among us and among us,” he declared. The city of Uruapan is in the midst of a wave of intense violence sweeping the state, and the impact of Manzo’s murder continues to be felt.
Mr. Halfuchi visited Michoacán this Thursday for the first time since the state’s new planning plan was announced last Sunday, and was accompanied by Defense Secretary General Ricardo Torrevira Trejo. After landing in Morelia to meet with territorial authorities, Harhuk traveled to Uruapan, where he patrolled the city in a military vehicle and was surrounded by a group of soldiers.
Quiroz is unable to hide the pain caused by her husband’s murder, a feeling that has spread across the country. “It has been a very difficult day for me personally, as a family, and obviously as a society (…) I am very angry and very disappointed. There has not been a day in which I have not stopped demanding justice, and I don’t think there will be a day in the future when I have not stopped demanding justice,” she said. The mayor clarified that the same thing that Ms. Halfucci told her was also posed to President Claudia Sheinbaum in a meeting a few days ago. “It was the same dynamic. We demand justice for what they did to Carlos (Manzo), because all those who died this way, and Uruapan and Michoacán, are already tired.”
At his usual morning briefing, Mr. Sheinbaum announced that his security cabinet would visit Michoacán state, where the National Guard, military and federal investigative teams are deployed. Mr. Quiroz also said of the project: “In this meeting (with security chiefs), I told them that Plan Paricutin sounds very nice and very flashy, but society is fed up with it.” Prime Minister Sheinbaum was asked this morning about his cabinet’s progress on the peace plan and said he would provide information next week. “Remember when I presented the plan I said, ‘Every month, we’re going to report on how we’re doing.’ Next week, we’ll be announcing what work we’re going to do and how we’re going to start,” she explained.
The president also said it was undecided whether she would visit the state anytime soon, adding: “We’ll see. But the government is on the ground.” The president did not confirm whether she would participate in the meeting. The US cabinet aims to “firmly solidify” the plan for Michoacán state. In his defense, he said, “We will consider whether to hold meetings across the country at the same time, or whether to leave it until January.”
The shooting death of Manzo by a 17-year-old youth, blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), revealed the scars of a region marked by violence in the country. A week after the tragedy, Sheinbaum presented this pacification plan, which foresees 100 actions, featuring expenditures of P57 billion and the deployment of 5,000 soldiers throughout the territory. This is a reaction to events that also highlight insecurity data in Uruapan, with 82.6% of the city’s residents considering the area unsafe in the third quarter of this year. This made the region the fifth most dangerous region in the country.
About The Author
