Claudia Sheinbaum's Presidency: Summary and Analysis of Day 25
Visit to Baja California, violence against local government officials, arrests made in Guerrero...this is day 25 of Sheinbaum's presidency.
Like her predecessor, President Sheinbaum has promised to spend her weekends traveling the country to visit constituents. She spent today in Baja California after spending yesterday in Baja California Sur. During today’s press conference, she spoke about various Baja-specific programming including plans to address the housing shortage in the state and expand educational opportunities. She also commented on the judicial reform, saying that her administration is in place “…to fulfill the mandate of the people” and questioning how her administration can be considered authoritarian when in actuality, the goal of the judicial reform is to end corruption and “… [have a] Court at the service of the people and the nation.” She affirmed that the popular election of the judicial branch will proceed as planned on June 1st, 2025.
There has been an uptick in violence against local government officials in recent weeks, with various instances of kidnappings, armed attacks, and homicides. The most well-known case, perhaps, is that of Chilpancingo mayor, Alejandro Arcos, who was found decapitated just one week after taking office. This week, three other mayos have been attacked - one in Guerrero and the other two in Chiapas, two of the three died at the scenes of the attack. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) estimates that there were at least 330 violent attacks toward political officials from the start of Mexico’s campaign season in March until election day in June, making it the most violent electoral campaign season in recent history in Mexico. ACLED found that 80% of the violence was directed toward local government officials.
The National Electoral Institute’s (INE) budget committee plans to approve a budget of $13 billion Mexican pesos (over $650 million USD) for the popular election of judges, magistrates, and ministers. The majority of this budget will be allocated for the elections of the federal judicial branch.
Omar García Harfuch attributed the Guanajuato car bomb attacks to the ongoing five-year conflict between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and specifically hypothesized that they might have been in retaliatory response to recent operations by authorities. García Harfuch also revealed that the car bombs were preceded by threats from organized crime.
Arrests have been made in Guerrero after a confrontation between armed civilians and the military in Técpan de Galeana that resulted in 16 deaths, two of which were members of the Mexican Army. Preliminary reports state that the seven-hour-long shootout occurred after a confrontation between two cartels. Local police were caught in the attack, resulting in the death of two officers. The state’s Attorney General’s Office reported that 21 people have been arrested from the incident, 16 of Guatemalan origin, one Salvadoran, and the remaining of Mexican origin. 17 vehicles were seized, plus 21 firearms with over 5,000 rounds of ammunition.
Violence in Sinaloa continues with 12 homicides over the past two days in both Culiacán and Navolato, among them are two municipal police officers.
A passenger bus leaving Tepic, Nayarit, and heading to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua collided with a cargo trailer, resulting in 19 deaths and six injuries.