This country’s government is contesting a report that ranks Mexico as the second-most deadly conflict zone in the world after Syria.
The report, carried out by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, uses figures from this country’s war against the drug cartels – an estimated 23,000 fatalities in 2016 – to place Mexico higher than both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The report received widespread media attention after its release, even prompting a retweet from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry quickly issued a statement, noting that the report “misapplies legal terms” and clarifying that this country is not engaged in an armed conflict comparable with Syria or Iraq.
“The existence of criminal groups is not a sufficient criterion for a non-international armed conflict,” the statement read.
The institute’s director acknowledged that the Mexican government does not supply accurate information as to the number of deaths recorded in the fight against the cartels, as well as in confrontations between the cartels themselves.
Mexico only publishes general annual homicide figures that include every kind of fatality. The majority of these are perpetrated with small-caliber handguns.
Despite its reputation for violence, Mexico is among the top ten international tourist destinations. The government is keen to point out that popular tourist zones in Mexico are as safe as other nations and that the violence is mostly concentrated in areas where visitors rarely travel.
Nonetheless, several other reports also conclude that Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous nations.
For example, Mexico has eight cities on the Top 50 Most Murderous Cities list compiled by the Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y Justicia Penal, a Mexican NGO. The beach resort of Acapulco, although nowadays mostly attracting domestic visitors, is second on the list with 113.24 murders per inhabitant.
Other cities featuring in the top half of this list are Ciudad Victoria, Tijuana, Culiacan and Mazatlan.
However, the United States also has four cities in the top 50: St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore and Detroit. Interestingly, St. Louis has a higher murder rate than any Mexican city apart from Acapulco and Ciudad Victoria.