October Was Mexico's Deadliest Month On Record

Jesselyn Cook
(Photo: PEDRO PARDO via Getty Images)
(Photo: PEDRO PARDO via Getty Images)

October was the deadliest month in Mexico since the government first began recording homicides two decades ago, with a staggering 2,371 murder investigations opened nationwide last month.

An average of 69 people were killed each day in Mexico in 2017, Reuters reported Tuesday, as the country grapples with widespread drug trafficking, cartel violence and high-level corruption. Well over 20,000 people have been slain so far this year, government data reveals.

Just days ago, armed robbers shot and killed Adolfo Lagos Espinosa, the vice president of Mexican telecommunications giant Televisa, outside Mexico City. On Monday, human rights ombudsman Silvestre de la Toba Camacho and his 20-year-old son were assassinated in the state of Baja California Sur, according to Mexican authorities. Their deaths reflect a growing epidemic of violence in the country.

Journalists have also been increasingly targeted ― especially those covering organized crime and corruption. Earlier this year, crime reporter Miroslava Breach Velducea was fatally shot eight times in front of her children outside their home in the northern state of Chihuahua. The assailant reportedly left a note at the scene, which read: “For being a snitch.”

Repeated attacks on the press have bred fear and self-censorship, and in turn, a cycle of impunity. Many reporters have fled the country, stripping Mexico of critical voices demanding change and accountability.

A study published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in May claimed Mexico’s drug war was the second-deadliest conflict in 2016, following the Syrian civil war. Although widely disputed, the report was tweeted out by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration is working to construct a multibillion-dollar wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to reduce illegal immigration and cross-border crime.

The Mexican government began a militarized crackdown on drug trafficking about a decade ago that has dramatically backfired, with lasting consequences. Some estimates suggest the death toll from the 10-year conflict exceeds 150,000.

The Mexican Senate’s internal research office reported that the country experienced “historic lows” in homicides near the end of 2006. But national homicide figures tripled between 2007 and 2011, as then-President Felipe Calderón mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to eradicate drug-related crime. “It was after the start of the permanent [military] operations that a real epidemic of violence occurred at a national level,” according to the report.

The military intervention to quash drug cartel operations also triggered a surge in reported human rights abuses perpetrated by state officials. From 2006 to 2011, complaints against the National Defense Ministry filed with Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission shot up from 182 to 1,626. The government’s strategy bypassed regional authorities and institutions, leaving them vulnerable to criminal influence, the International Crisis Group said in a report earlier this year.

Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s deeply unpopular president elected in 2012, vowed to move away from militarization as the primary strategy to address the crisis. But his administration has little to show for it, and has worked to expand the powers of Mexican troops despite mounting allegations of civilian abuse and extrajudicial killings by the armed forces.

Peña Nieto, whose Institutional Revolutionary Party faces a challenging bid for re-election in 2018, acknowledged in a speech earlier this month that confrontation between various armed groups has “really become an everyday scenario in many parts of the country.”

“Security must remain our top priority to our country,” the president said. On Thursday, he signed a law that dedicates more resources to investigating the increasing number of disappearances in Mexico.

“The disappearance of people is one of the greatest challenges facing our human rights ... and one of the most painful experiences anyone can suffer,” he said. Over the past five decades, Reuters notes, more than 32,000 Mexicans have disappeared. More than half have gone missing during Peña Nieto’s six-year term.

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Posters of the 43 missing students cover the base of a statue in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on March 5, 2015.
Posters of the 43 missing students cover the base of a statue in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on March 5, 2015.
A citizen search organized by families of the missing students in the hills outside Iguala, Guerrero, on Jan. 16, 2015.
A citizen search organized by families of the missing students in the hills outside Iguala, Guerrero, on Jan. 16, 2015.
Site of the attacks in the city of Iguala, Guerrero. Crosses on the ground mark where two Ayotzinapa students were shot. Parents of the missing students have posted phone numbers to call "if you know anything about our sons." Feb. 13, 2015.
Site of the attacks in the city of Iguala, Guerrero. Crosses on the ground mark where two Ayotzinapa students were shot. Parents of the missing students have posted phone numbers to call "if you know anything about our sons." Feb. 13, 2015.
Epifanio Álvarez Carbajal and Blanca Luz Nava Vélez, parents of missing Ayotzinapa student Jorge Álvarez Nava, rest on the bus during a week of marching and organizing in Mexico City on Jan. 24, 2015.
Epifanio Álvarez Carbajal and Blanca Luz Nava Vélez, parents of missing Ayotzinapa student Jorge Álvarez Nava, rest on the bus during a week of marching and organizing in Mexico City on Jan. 24, 2015.
Students comfort mothers of the 43 missing students at a rally at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City on Jan. 23, 2015.
Students comfort mothers of the 43 missing students at a rally at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City on Jan. 23, 2015.
The number "43" lights up a family's rooftop in Tixtla, Guerrero, on Feb. 1, 2015. Tixtla is home to the Ayotzinapa Normal School and 14 of its missing students.
The number "43" lights up a family's rooftop in Tixtla, Guerrero, on Feb. 1, 2015. Tixtla is home to the Ayotzinapa Normal School and 14 of its missing students.
Student survivors of the Iguala attacks and disappearances sit in the auditorium of the Ayotzinapa Normal School on March 16, 2015.
Student survivors of the Iguala attacks and disappearances sit in the auditorium of the Ayotzinapa Normal School on March 16, 2015.
A banner with the faces of the 43 missing students hangs in Tixtla, Guerrero, on Feb. 6, 2014. It reads, "Tixtla and El Fortín support the families of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students. They took them alive, we want them alive!"
A banner with the faces of the 43 missing students hangs in Tixtla, Guerrero, on Feb. 6, 2014. It reads, "Tixtla and El Fortín support the families of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students. They took them alive, we want them alive!"
Romana, mother of missing student José Ángel Campos Cantor, at home in Tixtla, Guerrero, on March 2, 2015.
Romana, mother of missing student José Ángel Campos Cantor, at home in Tixtla, Guerrero, on March 2, 2015.
A relative holds Gaby, the baby daughter of missing student José Ángel Campos Cantor, on March 18, 2015. His portrait hangs on the wall behind her. His other daughter, America, is 8 years old. 
A relative holds Gaby, the baby daughter of missing student José Ángel Campos Cantor, on March 18, 2015. His portrait hangs on the wall behind her. His other daughter, America, is 8 years old. 
Felipe de La Cruz, a spokesman for the families of the 43 missing students, speaks at a protest in Mexico City on the five-month anniversary of their disappearance on Feb. 26, 2015.
Felipe de La Cruz, a spokesman for the families of the 43 missing students, speaks at a protest in Mexico City on the five-month anniversary of their disappearance on Feb. 26, 2015.
Bus stop at the Ayotzinapa Normal School. Grafitti on the structure reads, "Our protest is not violent, it is a political response to the poverty, exploitation and violence generated by the government."
Bus stop at the Ayotzinapa Normal School. Grafitti on the structure reads, "Our protest is not violent, it is a political response to the poverty, exploitation and violence generated by the government."
Antonio Tizapa, New York City resident and father of missing student Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño, records a protest video in Times Square on Feb. 7, 2016.
Antonio Tizapa, New York City resident and father of missing student Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño, records a protest video in Times Square on Feb. 7, 2016.
Joint forum with members of the Ayotzinapa 43 movement and the Black Lives Matter movement at St. Mark's Church in Queens, New York, on April 25, 2015.
Joint forum with members of the Ayotzinapa 43 movement and the Black Lives Matter movement at St. Mark's Church in Queens, New York, on April 25, 2015.
Riot police intercept relatives and classmates of the 43 missing students to stop them from staging a radical protest in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on June 3, 2015. The protesters were calling for a boycott of state elections.
Riot police intercept relatives and classmates of the 43 missing students to stop them from staging a radical protest in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on June 3, 2015. The protesters were calling for a boycott of state elections.
Confrontation between Ayotzinapa students and riot police after a failed negotiation on June 3, 2015.
Confrontation between Ayotzinapa students and riot police after a failed negotiation on June 3, 2015.
Funeral of Antonio Vivar Díaz, a student teacher and local leader in the movement for the 43 missing students. Vivar Díaz was shot by a policeman during a confrontation on state election day in Tlapa, Guerrero.
Funeral of Antonio Vivar Díaz, a student teacher and local leader in the movement for the 43 missing students. Vivar Díaz was shot by a policeman during a confrontation on state election day in Tlapa, Guerrero.
"He fought for you," the family of Antonio Vivar Díaz greeted a commission of relatives and classmates of the missing students at Vivar Díaz's wake in Tlapa, Guerrero, on June 8, 2015.
"He fought for you," the family of Antonio Vivar Díaz greeted a commission of relatives and classmates of the missing students at Vivar Díaz's wake in Tlapa, Guerrero, on June 8, 2015.
Blanca Luz Nava Vélez, mother of missing student Jorge Álvarez Nava, at St. Peter's Church in New York City on on Sept. 25, 2015. She was one of five mothers of the disappeared who came to the United States in hopes of meeting Pope Francis during his papal visit, but they were unable to see him privately.
Blanca Luz Nava Vélez, mother of missing student Jorge Álvarez Nava, at St. Peter's Church in New York City on on Sept. 25, 2015. She was one of five mothers of the disappeared who came to the United States in hopes of meeting Pope Francis during his papal visit, but they were unable to see him privately.
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Bernabé Abraján, father of missing student Adan Abraján de La Bruz, at a meeting with the Guerrero Attorney General on March 9, 2016. The meeting was about video surveillance footage from the night of the students' disappearance that may have been lost.
Missing persons posters of the 43 students on the wall of a bank in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, on Nov. 10, 2014.
Missing persons posters of the 43 students on the wall of a bank in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, on Nov. 10, 2014.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.