Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador defended his security policy on Friday, after the United States warned that a recent escalation in drug trafficking attacks affects investments in the country.
Without referring directly to the statements made on Thursday by the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, the leftist president boasted the achievements of his strategy to reduce violence without entering into an open war with organized crime.
“They said that we were not going to be able to with the homicides, but here we go. They said that the strategy did not work, they mocked even the governor of Texas (Greg Abbott), how was that about ‘hugs not bullets,'” López Obrador said in his daily press conference in the city of Tijuana, one of those affected by the attacks, on the northeast border with the United States.
Salazar expressed concern about the attacks that left a dozen dead and businesses burned, and warned that this situation “cools” the investments of the United States and other countries in Mexico.
For the ambassador, security is more fundamental” than the trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada, the T-MEC.
López Obrador insisted that the actions of last week in several Mexican states are due to a display of “propaganda” by the criminals in the face of the blows that the authorities have dealt them.
Under the slogan “hugs, not bullets,” the Mexican leader points to a policy based on attacking poverty, inequality and the lack of opportunities for young people as structural causes of violence, which has earned him criticism from the opposition and experts.
The president maintains that his plan favors intelligence operations over war, to which he attributes the spiral of violence that has left some 340,000 dead since 2006, when the fight against drugs was militarized.
According to a report presented at the presidential conference, common crimes have been reduced by more than 30% since the López Obrador government began in December 2018, while intentional homicide fell by 12.8%.
Due to the wave of attacks, the United States issued security alerts for its employees in the affected areas. It also reinforced travel alerts, advising its citizens against visiting six Mexican districts.
“How many unfortunate acts of violence occur in the United States, aggressions, shootings! Do we find out? Do we send notices, warnings, to Mexicans not to travel to the United States to certain states? No!” Criticized López Obrador .
The president also accused his opponents of trying to create a false perception that “the country is on fire,” and assured that he still does not travel in armored cars or with escorts. “I have nothing to fear, I feel very safe in Baja California and throughout Mexico.” YS
