The headlines have been as stark as shocking: Mexico is the second deadliest country in the world.
According to an annual survey by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mexico in 2016 became more violent than warfare zones, including Afghanistan or Yemen, with a death toll exceeding that of Syria.
The look was extensively stated, or even Donald Trump, who has often used America’s southern neighbor as a political punching bag, retweeted a link to a CNN article on the document.
But the report landed with a thud in Mexico, where the government has been looking to improve the United States ‘ worldwide image amid a decade of drug warfare violence.
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“Mexico is far from being one of the most violent international locations in the world,” the foreign and interior ministries said in a testy joint statement, which noted that according to UN figures, the United States of America’s murder rate is 16. Four murders in keeping with one hundred 000 citizens become significantly lower than several different Latin American nations, including Brazil (25.2 murders per 100,000 residents), Venezuela (53.7 murders per 100,000 citizens), and Honduras (Four murders per a 000 citizens).
Parts of Mexico have suffered terrible violence since the then-president, Felipe Calderón, declared war on organized crime a decade ago. That battle has claimed an estimated two hundred 000 lives and left more than 30,000 missing.
But large swathes of the United States of America are unaffected by drug violence (tourism visits grew by a healthy nine percent in 2016), and the notion that Mexico became comparable to Syria – now in its sixth year of war – infuriated Mexicans.
Many argue that violence in the US is fueled by Uthe US call for unlawful drugs and the black market in American firearms, neither of which is likely to be stopped by a border wall,includingf that proposed by Trump.
Trump’s apparent endorsement of the study only irritated the response in Mexico.
“I wish these morons were happy. Their idiotic report changed into already retweeted using @realDonald Trump,” tweeted Alejandro Hope, a Mexican security analyst.
Police officials and forensic employees work in the vicinity where six corpses had been located on a road in Mochitlan, Guerrero State, Mexico.
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Police officials and forensic employees paintings at the location where six corpses had been observed on a road in Mochitlán, Guerrero State, Mexico. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
“Violence associated with prepared crime is a local phenomenon, which goes beyond the borders that Mexico shares with the US, Guatemala, and Belize,” the declaration stated. “The demanding situations Mexico confronts in this area can’t be isolated from the phenomena associated with different jurisdictions, together with hands trafficking and call for for tablets.”
