President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that between 200 and 300 families from Chiapas have relocated to Guatemala due to conflicts involving suspected members of organized crime groups. However, he dismissed this as a massive “exodus.” Criticizing the role of civil society organizations in “spreading facts without proper context,” the president stated that these comments exaggerate localized incidents to create the perception of ungovernability in the country.
Although he did not mention the names of the criminal gangs in conflict in Chiapas, it is known that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel have been vying for control of the southern border in recent months, resulting in violent incidents and shootouts.
López Obrador clarified, “They are saying there is an exodus of Mexicans to Guatemala. Not at all. There is a confrontation between two groups. We are addressing it, and this has led some communities to move to Guatemala. However, they are still near the border because they live on the Mexican side and cross over to Guatemala.”
He emphasized that August 6 was one of the days with the fewest recorded homicides during his administration. During his morning press conference, he presented a graph showing 45 homicides reported on that Tuesday. Additionally, he highlighted that 14 states in the country reported no such incidents.
López Obrador concluded, “That’s why the morning press conferences, and security meetings are beneficial—for those who sensationalize and want things to go wrong. Even when we have almost double the average number of homicides, we have still managed to reduce crime rates and homicides.”¹².
Source: Expansion
