The President Claudia Sheinbaum today, Monday, November 3, ruled out changes in security policies after the murder of a mayor in the state of Michoacán, which called into question his government’s actions to confront criminal groups in the country.
Given the commotion generated by the lethal attack against Carlos Manzo, municipal president of Uruapan, Sheinbaum came out to defend his policies, ensuring that he has managed to reduce homicides and accused his adversaries of acting as “vultures” and “scavengers” in the face of the murder.
“There are those who ask, as happened with the war on drugs, militarization and war. That did not work,” said the Federal President when ruling out changes in the security strategy and affirmed that she will continue to focus on strengthening the presence of security forces in Michoacán and other states, strengthening intelligence and investigation work and attention to the causes that generate violence.
Carlos Manzo, 40, died on the night of Saturday, November 1, in a hospital in Uruapan after receiving several gunshot wounds from a gunman who attacked him in a plaza among dozens of people participating in the Day of the Dead celebrations. The attacker was also murdered at the scene.
Since December 2024 – three months after taking office – the mayor had protection and last May his security was reinforced with municipal police personnel and 14 members of the National Guard.
Months before the deadly attack, Manzo had harshly criticized the security policies of the ruling governor of Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, and had accused the state police of not acting to stop the different criminal groups that operate in that state, including the Nueva Generación Cartel and the Familia Michoacana, which were designated in February by Washington as “terrorist organizations.”
Regarding the Manzo case, President Sheinbaum assured that “there will be no impunity” and that investigations will be carried out to find those responsible materially and intellectually and that action will be taken with “all the force of the State.”
For his part, the federal Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuchreported that the gunman, who has not yet been identified, took advantage of the vulnerability of the public event to shoot Manzo seven times with a weapon that according to investigations is linked to two armed confrontations between rival criminal groups operating in Michoacan.
In reference to the proposal made yesterday by the Undersecretary of State for USAChristopher Landau, of greater security cooperation, the President said that “Mexico is a free and sovereign country” and added that “We accept help in information, in intelligence, but not intervention.”
Sheinbaum recalled that his government reached an agreement on security matters with the United States to share information and indicated that if support is required in this matter it will be requested.
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Read more: US, willing to expand security aid in Mexico after assassination of Mayor Carlos Manzo
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