The mayors of two communities in northwestern Sonora are asking for security assistance from the state and federal government.
In the Nov. 5 letter, Caborca and Pitiquito’s mayors Librado Macías González and Gumercindo Ruiz Lizarraga wrote that residents are demanding the security they have a right to, but which has been ripped away. It was addressed to Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Sonora’s governor Claudia Pavlovich.
“In our capacity as citizens and authorities of the aforementioned municipalities, we URGENTLY request that attention be given to this request, which we don’t think can wait any longer,” the letter reads.
That part of the state has seen violence surge over the past year. Through September, murder cases in Caborca nearly equal the previous three full years combined, and Pitiquito is well on its way to at least a a six-year high, according to federal data.
“It’s like a desperate cry from the mayors,” said Manuel Hoyos, head of the Observatorio Sonora por la Seguridad.
In it, the mayors recognized the recent efforts of security forces, but said that their citizens are demanding more results. At the end of October, state forces made a number of arrests and seizures of drugs, vehicles and weapons, according to a release from the state attorney.
Among other measures, Hoyos said that “in the medium and long term, strengthening local police is also important.”
