Terror in Mexico: 427 massacres recorded in 2023

A massacre is committed every 19 hours in the country, according to the NGO Common Cause, which has counted 22,930 "atrocities" in the country since 2020.

Varios hombres llevan el féretro de una de las 12 personas asesinadas en un rancho en una fiesta prenavideña por pistoleros el pasado 17 de diciembre — (Photo by MARIO ARMAS / AFP)

Published by

Juan Carlos Téllez

20 de diciembre, 2023

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Mexico recorded at least 427 massacres in 2023, according to the Mexican NGO Causa en Común (Common Cause) in a report published this Tuesday. This is a low figure, since the NGO itself recognizes that it collects this data based on publications in the media, which do not always record all the massacres that have occurred.

During 2023 we have counted at least 427 massacres, the three states with the most cases are Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Guerrero. Our monitoring of atrocities recorded in the media began on January 1, 2020, since then at least 2,130 massacres have been recorded. As in previous years, there are an unknown number of massacres that were not recorded by the press.

Causa en Común denounces that since January 1, 2020, at least 2,130 massacres have occured in the country. The NGO defines as a "massacre," the murders of three or more people in the same violent act. In the report Gallery of horror: atrocities and high-impact events recorded in the media, it is stated that the states with the highest number of massacres recorded by the press were Guanajuato (57), Zacatecas (43) and Guerrero (41).

A massacre is committed every 19 hours in Mexico

From the beginning of 2020 to the third quarter of 2023, the NGO Causa en Común recorded 22,930 "atrocities," or events that include, in addition to massacres, findings of clandestine graves, actions of human trafficking, torture, burning, violence against migrants or murder of children and adolescents.

Without going any further, and 14 were injured in Salvatierra, in the state of Guanajuato, during a party to kick off the Christmas celebrations. Nearby, in Salamanca, another assault resulted in the death of four people.

In this sense, Causa en Común reported that a massacre is recorded every 19 hours in Mexico. The NGO detailed that between January and June 2023, 1,453 cases of torture were recorded, 729 murders of women with extreme cruelty, 496 mutilations, dismemberments and destruction of corpses and 399 violent acts against authority, among others.

The states that accounted for the highest number of massacres reported in the media were Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Baja California, Guerrero, Morelos, Jalisco, Puebla, Zacatecas, Veracruz and the State of Mexico.

AMLO's false promise: "The massacres are over"

Both NGOs and the Mexican population are asking the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to put an end to this violent spiral in the country. In this way, they remember a new lie from AMLO, who assured during the presidential campaign that he would put an end to the massacres in Mexico. "Upon MORENA's victory there will be no massacres"said the still candidate in 2017 while criticizing the crime management of previous Mexican presidents.