By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Despite a strong military presence sent by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) late last year to curb mounting violence in that state, Michoacán has registered at least 694 murders so far this year, according to official figures.

The special operations and the incursion of thousands of soldiers and National Guardsmen into Michoacán have not stopped the wave of violence in Michoacán.

Massacres, assassinations of mayors, attacks on journalists, shootouts and warring criminal groups continue to mar some regions of the state, governed by Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla from AMLO’s leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, who came to power in October of last year on a campaign to quell violence in Michoacán.

According to government statistics, in January there were 234 victims of intentional homicide in Michoacán, a figure that rose by 6.8 percent in February, to 250 cases.

And in March, there were 210 murders as of Sunday, March 27, according to data from the daily homicide registry of the Federal Security Secretariat.

The majority of the violence in Michoacán has been attributed to turf wars between the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) and the United Cartels, and both the federal and state government have refused to step in to calm the situation.

Despite the violence, Ramírez Bedolla has defended his security strategy in the state.

“There are daily operations; there is a whole strategy that has been set in motion,” he said, when asked about the mounting violence.

“It is going to take work and time for (that strategy) to start giving some results, but I am sure we are on the right path.”

Following in AMLO’s footsteps, Ramírez Bedolla also said that the violence is a consequence of the inertia of past (non-Morena) administrations.