Sicarios Ignore Feds:  Three Fatal Shootings Last Night

How Effective were Previous Federal Law Enforcement Efforts in Juárez?

In spite of the presence in Juárez since Wednesday of 1000 newly arrived armed soldiers and police, part of a national program (Operativo de las 17 Regiones) to reduce crime in 17 high priority areas of Mexico, two men were executed last night at about 6:30 pm in Col Azteca, a high crime area.  Both had multiple arrest records for drug-related offenses.  A third was injured.  Then, early this morning two men were shot by gunmen, one fatally, in Col Del Real. (click here and here for Diario stories)

In today's Diario prize-winning Hérika Martinez Prado writes a brief history of previous federal efforts to prevent crime in Juárez.  (click here).  Her findings:

Programa Integral de Seguridad Para Cd. Juárez (PISCJ):  In 2003-2005, under the command of the Federal Preventive Police, and in the face of increasing pressure to stop a wave of feminicides in Juárez, President Vicente Fox sent 300 federal police agents to patrol 35 dangerous neighborhoods.  Two years later, on August 11 2005, the federal government admitted (hard to believe just 14 years ago some governments actually told the truth!) murders and violence against women had actually increased.

Operativo Conjunto Chihuahua (OCCH), (Joint Operation Chihuahua) 2008-2010, under the command of the Mexican Department of Defense/  After a spike in homicides in early March 2008, two thousand troops and 425 federal police were deployed to Chihuahua.  That year, 488 complaints against troops were filed, for illegal searches in homes, as well as cruel or degrading treatment.  In March 2009 another 5000 troops joined the fray.  While Joint Operation Chihuahua was in effect, the homicide rate in Juárez went up from 291 in 2007 (Monarrez data) to 1622 in 2008 to 2667 in 2009 to well over 3000 in 2010.  (Note:  there are conflicting data on the exact number of homicides each year but differences between sources are relatively minor)  Martinez does not note this in her piece today, but extortion rates and kidnappings skyrocketed during OCCH)

On January 16 2010 President Calderon ended OCCH.  placing public security under state control in an effort called Operacion Coordinada Chihuahua. Army troops left town, replaced by 5000 federal police.  Under a lot of political pressure, in October 2011 security for the city reverted back to the municipality of Juárez, and most federal security agents left the city.  Mayor Héctor Murguia named a Lt. Col, Julián Leyzaola, as his security chief.  Complaints against abuse of power rose dramatically under his command, especially in the downtown area, even though homicides continued to decline, from 1977 in 2011 to 803 in 2012 to 524 in 2013 to 450 in 2014 and  354 in 2015.  Since then homicides have gone up to 564 in 2016, 767 in 2017 and 1247 in 2018.

Bottom Line:  What Martinez shows in her piece this morning is that previous experience with federal intervention in Cd.Juárez suggests there is not much relationship between the presence of federal policing agents and the homicide rate.  But the stronger the federal presence, the greater the abuse of the public from the hands of troops or federal police.

Will Operativo de las 17 Regiones be different?