Mexican President’s War on Crime Yields Slim Results
Four years after Manuel López Obrador's campaign promises to tackle crime, corruption and impunity, roughly one in 10 crimes in Mexico were reported to prosecutors last year, and of those, state prosecutors only brought presumed criminals before a judge in 3 percent of complaints.
Landwebs
Four years after making campaign promises to tackle crime, corruption and impunity, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador finds himself facing a country where many crimes still remain uninvestigated and his attorney general is being criticized by the public for allegedly stalling on high-profile cases, reports Juan Montes for the Wall Street Journal. Mexican prosecutors investigated and took legal action on 4.4 percent of reported federal crimes in 2020, compared with 5.4 percent in 2018. Roughly one in 10 crimes in Mexico were reported to prosecutors last year, and of those, state prosecutors across the country only brought presumed criminals before a judge in 3 percent of complaints. Meanwhile, about 79 percent of Mexicans believe impunity has risen or remained unchanged since López Obrador took office in 2018. Half of those surveyed by a national statistics agency considered reporting crimes a waste of time or said they mistrust authorities.
