By Alfredo Corchado Mexico -- This country's tenuous security situation is falling apart Reports from across Mexico paint a picture of a nation reeling back on its heels as murders and massacres flourish lead the nation and continent in homicides with more than 2,200 and 1,000 respectively in 2018 Recent massacres span from Veracruz to Guadalajara and across Tamaulipas where Reynosa is a critical crossing point for U.S.-Mexico trucking business according to the Executive Secretariat of the Public Security National System Breaking NewsGet the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond GoogleFacebookBy signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy 4 imagesView GalleryThe rising violence has huge implications for the young presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador who was swept into office with a clear mandate: Just like his last two predecessors he won by promising to make Mexico safe again "Violence in Mexico is only getting worse," said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera an expert on drug violence at George Mason University and author of Los Zetas Inc. a book about the paramilitary group that's long terrorized Mexico's Northwest region And it may mean migrants are in danger because a recent U.S policy is sending some Central Americans seeking political asylum back to Mexico to await rulings in their cases may face increasing danger as summer approaches at least three Hondurans were reportedly killed inside a house in Ciudad Juarez are common as criminals extort and kidnap migrants "Further militarization and more vulnerable people are being subjected to extortion and recruitment and this is setting up for an explosive situation in cities like Reynosa," said Correa-Cabrera referring to the growing number of Central American migrants assistant professor at Harvard's Department of Anthropology and author of Threshold said Mexico is "so saturated with weapons," the majority of them come from Texas-based stores "that criminals have no problem finding" AK-47s and other weapons anywhere in Mexico who said she is researching what American arms are doing to Mexican lives during the decades-old drug war said official estimates show about 200,000 weapons partially aggravated by Mexican's concerns about the continued violence thousands of people turned out on Mexico City's main thoroughfare there's still patience with the new government of López Obrador as many voters view violence as problems inherited from the old administration," said Javier Garza an independent journalist who specializes in reporting on drug violence 4 imagesView GalleryAdvertisementThe problem is the repeated promises that López Obrador makes insisting he will reduce violence in six months and that's when the problem will really begin for him because he already doesn't sound like he has a long-term policy or strategy," said Garza Last year was considered the most violent in Mexico's modern history It was the greatest number since records began in 1997 according to an annual Justice in Mexico report "Organized Crime and Violence In Mexico," released last week by researchers at the University of San Diego López Obrador has promised to take a different approach to restore security in the country He said he's focused on crime prevention by launching new social programs to provide opportunities for poor youths and keep them away from crime He's also created a new 80,000-member National Guard comprised mostly of former military and national police and made other changes in federal law enforcement including a new autonomous federal prosecutor López Obrador is setting up new institutions and that may be part of the bigger problem a crime expert and co-author of the Justice in Mexico Report but part of the problem is that it's not the right plan," Shirk said "The problem in Mexico is that every new administration for the last 30 years wants to start all over again Every six years - the length of a presidential term - new leaders come in and begin rebuilding from the ground up He said he thinks López Obrador's team should focus on merit-based professional performance criteria to award law enforcement officials who are doing good jobs Mexican mayors were at least nine times more likely to be killed than the average citizen while Mexican journalists were three times more likely to be murdered radio reporter Telesforo Santiago Enriquez became the latest journalist victim became one of the most recent politicians to be assassinated when she was shot while driving on a highway 2 imagesView GalleryShirk said López Obrador should consider deploying police to Mexico's more than 260 communities and laser in on areas where crime is rampant only 5 municipalities account for 25% of the homicides in the country And the top 10 most violent municipalities account for 33 % of homicides nationwide They include cities like Tijuana in Baja California He applauded AMLO for focusing on programs to help the poor but said the president needs to focus also on strengthening institutions via rule-of-law who have long ruled Mexico with ironclad power where violence has risen due to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel stretching south of Texas from Laredo to the Gulf remnants of the paramilitary group known as the Zetas are battling it out for control of key regions a cab driver who goes by the name of Gregorio Chavez was in constant communication via WhatsApp with other colleagues to check on "where the roadblocks are." "Central American migrants represent a boom for business," Chavez said explaining that many are kidnapped and held until U.S But while Central Americans and other migrants are the target "you don't want to get trapped in a roadblock because anything can happen." Correction on May 7 at 11:51 a.m.: Corrected to reflect that 5 municipalities account for 25% of the homicides in Mexico Human development in some Mexican municipalities is comparable to that in European countries At the top of the list are the Mexico City boroughs of Benito Juárez and Miguel Hidalgo where development is virtually on a par with Switzerland and the United Kingdom respectively Published yesterday by the Mexico office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) the report reveals that the first of the two boroughs achieved a score of 0.944 on the UN Human Development Index (HDI) home to the capital’s affluent Polanco district which is only fractionally below the UK’s 0.918 The HDI is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development including life expectancy The Mexico data contained in the report comes from national statistics agency Inegi a municipality in the metropolitan area of the Nuevo León capital Monterrey The Mexico City boroughs of Coyoacán and Cuauhtémoc came next with HDI scores comparable to those in Italy and Malta respectively Rounding out the top 10 municipalities in the country were San Sebastián Tutla Oaxaca — comparable to Cyprus; Corregidora Mexico City — Andorra; San Nicolás de los Garza a municipality in the Montaña region of Guerrero The landlocked central African country ranks 185th out of 189 countries on the United Nations HDI According to a 2017 report by the social development agency Coneval nearly 90% of residents in Cochoapa el Grande live in extreme poverty The next most disadvantaged municipality in Mexico is San Martín Peras where the HDI of 0.425 is just above Burkina Faso’s 0.423 The municipalities with the next lowest HDI scores are: Batopilas Chihuahua — comparable to Liberia; Santos Reyes Yucuná Oaxaca — Mozambique; Coicoyán de las Flores Chiapas — Ethiopia; and Mixtla de Altamirano The UNDP said that to decrease inequality across Mexico authorities need to increase funding for municipal projects and improve transparency in the distribution of those resources Improvements in terms of human development in municipalities located in states such as Oaxaca Chiapas and Guerrero have been slow because public resources are limited and not used efficiently 13.1 expected years of school and an average per-capita income of US $16,944 Mexico ranks as a country with high human development Switzerland and Australia are the top three and are ranked very high according to the most recent United Nations global report Source: El Financiero (sp)  ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC