Yucatán had lowest homicide rate in 2013, Mexico reports

Mérida, Yucatán -
Roberto Campa, Undersecretary for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation, a department of the Secretary of Government (SEGOB), reported in a national news interview this week that the state of Yucatán had the lowest homicide rate in the nation for the reporting year ending Dec. 31, 2013.

Yucatán recorded but 2.05 murders per 100,000 persons, followed by these states: Aguascalientes (3.29), Hidalgo (4.65), Tlaxcala (5.98), Querétaro (6.07), Puebla (7.41), Campeche (8.15) and the Federal District (8.46).

The statistically most dangerous states in the Republic in 2013, according to SEGOB, were these: Guerrero, with 61.59 murders per 100,000 residents, Sinaloa (43.65), Chihuahua (42.36), Morelos (33.55), Durango (29.15) and Colima (27.3).

At a national prosecutors' convention in Mérida last week, Mexico's attorney general referred to Yucatán as "a paradise" when compared to other regions of the nation. Only seven Mexican states are well prepared to carry out criminal investigations, analysts report.

Undersecretary Campa claimed that overall, homicides throughout the nation dropped 16% in 2013. That allegation has been strongly challenged by some media sources, and its at odds with numbers published earlier this year by Mexico's National Public Security Ministry. At 14 months of PRI administration, 21,258 drug war dead.

On May 8, Campa acknowledged that insecurity costs Mexico $16.6 billion USD annually, and 50 lives a day. At a security forum he noted, "The situation in the country in terms of crime and violence remains delicate. We are not able to say that things are good, but there is reason to say they are getting better."

Independent economists polled by Mexico's central bank, Banixco, have concurred in two surveys this year that the nation's faltering economy, which has been in decline for more than a year, is due to domestic insecurity more than any other factor.

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Feb. 1, 2013 - Yucatán safety continues to be subject of hot debate

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