Social distancing not slowing crime in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Social distancing measures and calls for Mexicans to remain in their homes have not produced a drop in violent crime, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday.

There had been hope that the measures implemented in late March to slow the spread of COVID-19 would lead to a significant decrease in criminality, but the president said that has not been seen in the numbers.

López Obrador blamed the stubbornly high murder rate on “confrontations between gangs. They continue disputing territory, clashing amongst themselves.”

He said they were not seeing, as some have suggested, higher incidence of domestic violence because people have been confined to their homes in a stressful situation.