The most recent homicides that shocked Michoacán were that of the citrus businessman, Bernardo Bravoand that of the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo; both had raised their voices against insecurity.
(Photo: Juan José Estrada/Cuartoscuro)
Alberto Guerrero Baena, a consultant specialized in Security Policy, considers that Manzo’s murder is a sign that Michoacán is experiencing ungovernability.
“The murder of Carlos Manzo tells us about this ungovernability that the state has had in a cyclical manner and that it has not known how to contain.”
Alberto Guerrero Baena, specialist in Security Policy.
A “war” that engulfed a state
On December 11, 2006, days after taking office as the second president from the PAN, Felipe Calderón launched the “Michoacán Joint Operation”, which would be the beginning of the call “war against drug trafficking.
The operation began after the then governor of Michoacán and son of engineer Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Lázaro Cárdenas Batel. He asked then-President Felipe Calderón for help to combat the violence because crime was doing “its thing.”
”The situation of executions has become complex, difficult and a problem of enormous magnitude. The problem of drug trafficking, although it is not exclusive to Michoacán, is something very serious, it is an issue that has been addressed with the governors of other states and we are confident that the federal government will provide greater support,” said the grandson of former president Lázaro Cárdenas.
Following the request of the then governor, who was appointed in 2024 by President Claudia Sheinbaum as head of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic, President Calderón sent 7,000 elements of the Armed Forces to Michoacán.
Since that year, violence would increase in the entity. According to figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), since 2006 in Michoacán there have been registered 22,567 intentional homicides.
For six years, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has had the most intentional homicides in Michoacán with 10,542, followed by Enrique Peña Nieto with 6,487 and Felipe Calderón with 4,009.
In the administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto, homicidal violence skyrocketed: In 2016, the figure of 1,000 murdered in one year was exceeded when 1,288 victims were registered.
However, in the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador recorded the most violent years for the entity with 1,680, 1,976 and 2,233 homicides between 2019 and 2021.
In 2006, the criminal groups that operated in the entity were Los Caballeros Templarios, La Familia Michoacana and Los Valencia. Almost 20 years later, they identify 24 groups with presence in 45 of the 113 municipalities according to AC Consultores, the most relevant being Jalisco New Generation Cartel, United Cartels, Los Viagras, the Tepaltepec Cartel and Los Templarios.
Héctor Segovia, professor at La Salle University and security specialist, explains that because of what is happening in Michoacán, we can speak of a “failed state.”
“What happened in Michoacán is quite serious, where compliance has not been given due to what the Constitution establishes, the protection of citizens. So, it is a failed state,” he indicates.
