Mexico: Spike in gang-related murders in Guanajuato

Event

An outbreak of deadly violence attributed to turf wars between rival crime groups has broken out in the state of Guanajuato. At least 21 people were murdered in a 30-hour period spanning October 11-12. Six people were killed in the city of León, along with five in Salvatierra, four in Tarimoro, two in Salamanca, two in Irapuato, and one each in Celaya and Abasolo. Further violence is possible in the coming hours and days.

Context

Fierce turf wars between competing and increasingly fragmented cartels are on the rise in much of the country and violence in parts of Mexico is spiraling out of control as cartels adopt increasingly militarized tactics. Violence is poised to continue as long as the structural causes of insecurity - such as institutional weakness, corrupt and deficient security forces, poor public services, and a political establishment susceptible to bribes - are not effectively addressed.

Advice

Due to extreme levels of violence linked to the presence of various armed groups, many Western governments advise against travel to a large portion of Mexican territory, including Guerrero, Colima, Sinaloa, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas states and the northeastern border with the United States, as well as to a lesser extent Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León (not to be confused with the city of León), and Sonora states.