Despite still being very high, the homicide rate in Mexico has reduced slightly, in what may be, according to the UN, an example of a “pax mafia” or the reduction of violence when a criminal organization, such as drug cartels, hegemonically dominates a territory.
The number of registered homicides decreased by 10 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, to 32,223, according to the Global Study on Homicides published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The homicide rate had already decreased in the country in 2020 (0.3 percent) and in 2021 (3.4 percent).
All in all, in 2022, Mexico had the tenth homicide rate per 10,000 inhabitants among the 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean for which data is available for that year.
In 2021, Mexico was the ninth highest among the 36 countries in the region that reported statistics in this regard.
The UN indicates in its report that the presence of organized crime groups does not always translate into a high rate of lethal violence.
In its report, the UNODC recalls that the term “pax mafiosa” is used in Italy to describe how the leaders of a criminal group deliberately reduce the use of violence in the territory they control.
Photo: Cuartoscuro Archive
“ Dominant criminal groups can influence violent crime by controlling territory and markets,” notes the UN, which gives an example of how in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, areas dominated by the Primeiro Comando da Capital criminal clan experienced less crime. violent.
Thus, the UNODC explains that those responsible for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico are believed to have urged their subordinates in Baja California to reduce the violence because it was attracting too much government attention.
“(…) In Mexico, an analysis of data at the municipal level indicates that a very high presence of organized crime has led to lower levels of homicide,” the Study states.
This analysis of 98 municipalities shows that Mexico, a country in general with a high crime rate, is “an example of how a greater presence of organized crime does not always translate into a higher level of violence .”
By crossing the indicators that reflect the activity of a criminal group in an area, such as the presence of drug traffickers, the theft of fuel, or cases of extortion or robbery, with those of homicides, the first conclusion is that crimes occur where these gangs operate. violent, although only to a certain extent.
“When the presence of organized crime reaches a certain level (…), the (level) of homicides begins to decrease,” concludes the UN.
With an average of 52 homicides every hour, the world recorded 458 thousand violent deaths in 2021, a figure more than four times higher than the number of deaths due to armed conflicts and in which organized crime is behind more than 100 thousand deaths, reveals also the report.
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