Farewell to the oasis that was Mexico City?

The status of oasis Mexico City boasted as a place far removed from the violence ravaging other regions of the country lasted very little.

In 2017, Mexico City registered the highest murder rates of the past 20 years in the history of the city, and recent data of the National Survey on Urban Public Security (March 2018) by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), shows that the east and north of Mexico City registered the highest insecurity perception index of the country, with 96.7% and 94%, respectively – that is, its inhabitants consider their areas aren't safe.

Executions, drug dealing, and even extortion are some of the crimes which are quickly becoming part of a new normal for the inhabitants of Mexico City. For a long time, authorities denied criminal organizations had a presence here but now we cannot hide the impact of criminal gangs, mainly in the south (Tláhuac, Xochimilco, Coyoacán, Iztapalapa, and Tlalpan) and the center (Cuauhtémoc) of the city.

Several facts confirm violence has been on the rise: in 2017, members of the Mexican Navy were deployed in the south to capture a high-profile drug lord. University City is also the target of drug dealers, and shootouts and deaths were registered for the first time in this campus. We also had the wave of murdered escorts of the past six months, which current investigations link to drug trafficking . This week several dismembered bodies have been found with messages on them.

It's time to face reality, without minimizing it or attributing it to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch. These aren't small criminal gangs operating in Mexico City. Authorities should implement intelligence operation and increase their presence in the most violent areas.

Thus far, Mexico City seems to be safe from the highest risk possible: the infiltration of criminals in law enforcement and bribery of key members. This is why there is still a lot left to do during the following seven months before there is a change in administrations. It's necessary to listen to the actions which could be implemented and know the results obtained. And the candidate elected as the new Mayor of Mexico City should have, from this very moment, a detailed and thorough plan to face crime and insecurity .

The fights of drug dealing gangs over territories are reaching unprecedented levels. Is there an action plan to increase police surveillance? Is there a local plan to contain violence? The answer will surely be found in the heightened perception of insecurity of Mexico City inhabitants.

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