Guanajuato Pueblos Magicos: Among the Most Violent
“Experts believe the government needs to allocate more resources to security of the Pubelos Magicos, which have seen a decrease in tourism due to the insecurity.”
The Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Villages) program, created 18 years ago and currently made up of 121 locations, is a victim of the growing wave of violence that affects the country.
About half of these towns saw an increase in the number of alleged malicious killings in the last three years, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).
Not counting the 10 Pueblos Mágicos that were only added in October 2018, the SESNSP registered 680 murder victims in the remaining 111 communities during the first half of 2019.
Half of these locations had an increase in the number of alleged malicious killings during the last three years, considering that in the first half of 2016, 465 investigation files were initiated for the crimes.
According to SESNSP, in Guanajuato, for example, Salvatierra has become the city with the highest murder rate in the state, with 156 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. On March 25th, 4 public officials were killed there.
In addition to Salvatierra, which has registered 46 homicides so far in 2019, there are other Pueblos Mágicos in Guanajuato that have had a high murder rate this year: Yuriria, with 30; Dolores Hidalgo, with 17; and Jalpa de Canovas, with 13.
Puebla and the State of Mexico each have nine Pueblos Mágicos. In six of the towns in the State of Mexican, there has been an increase of violence over the last three years.
San Pedro Tlaquepaque, in Jalisco, is the most violent city of the 121 Pubelos Magicos. Between January and June 2019, 165 alleged murders were committed there.
Source: Executive Secretary of the National System of Pubic Security.
“If a tourist perceives that a place is unsafe, even if you call it a ‘Magical Town’, they will not want to visit it,” says Gerardo Herrera, a tourism specialist at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
Article by El Universal, translated by The San Miguel Herald
Commentary: What we find interesting about this article, and the statistics being cited, is that San Miguel de Allende does not appear. Multiple groups in San Miguel have kept tallies of the number of murders in 2019. The most recent counts show around 78 murders this year. Mexico News Daily reported that there had been about 65 murders as of July in San Miguel. This would place San Miguel as the Pueblo Magico in Guanajuato with the most murders, far ahead of Yuriria, Dolores Hidalgo, and Jalpa de Canovas.
The key phrase seems to be “registered homicides”, what the government records or makes public.
What do you think?
