MEXICO CITY
The murder rate in Mexico is still 50 each day even while fighting crime cost over US$16 billion in 2013, the Mexican government said Wednesday.
The amount represents 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, according to the National Survey on Victimization and Perception of Public Security 2013.
"The violence and crime situation in Mexico remains fragile," said Roberto Campa Cifrián, the Undersecretary of Prevention and Citizen Participation in the Ministry of the Interior. Campa Cifrián was speaking during the inauguration of the Week of Social Crime Prevention, organized by the Mexican government and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Although homicide rates in Mexico fell from 19 to 16 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, "we cannot say that things are fine," Campa said.
The federal government is putting special emphasis on states such as Michoacán and Tamaulipas; where organized crime has control of local governments and territories.
For those states Campa said the strategy includes actions to contain crime while improving justice and social programs to reduce the vulnerabilities of the populations, most of whom live in rural areas.
The Mexican government is "seeking a lasting solution to the problem of security,” he said.
Only if the government can change conditions will it be possible that the solution will be durable, said Campa.
According to the Mexico City-based Citizen Council for Justice and Peace, nine Mexican cities are among the 50 most violent cities in the world. These cities are located across the country from north to south.
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