Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 📉 Michoacán violence drops sharply: Presenting data from Morelia, security official Marcela Figueroa reported Michoacán’s daily homicide rate fell to 2.33 in June — a 46% drop from January 2025, the state’s most violent month since Sheinbaum took office. It was also the lowest June rate in 12 years, with homicides down more than 40% year-on-year.
- 📊 Plan Michoacán shows results: Officials credited the 57-billion-peso ($3.26 billion) “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” launched after Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo’s murder last November, with driving a 37% reduction in the state’s daily homicide average for the first half of 2026 versus 2025 — and a 70.7% drop compared to 2021.
- 🚓 Over 1,300 arrests since October 2024: Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said 1,342 people were arrested in Michoacán for high-impact crimes, alongside seizures of 1,398 firearms and 35,000+ kg of drugs, and the dismantling of 30 clandestine labs.
- 💬 “No fear,” says Sheinbaum: Pressed on why she hasn’t visited Uruapan or the volatile Tierra Caliente region, Sheinbaum said she stays in contact with Manzo’s widow, now Uruapan’s mayor, “by chat,” and insisted she has “no fear” of visiting “critical areas”, promising to go “on another occasion.”
Why today’s mañanera matters
President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacán.
The state has long been considered one of Mexico’s most violent, but the government presented data on Friday that showed that the security situation has improved since the commencement of “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” a 57-billion-peso (US $3.26 billion) initiative that the government devised late last year in response to the murder of the mayor of Uruapan on Nov. 1 and general insecurity in the state.
The presentation of data on homicides, high-impact crimes and arrests in Michoacán indicated that Plan Michoacán — which began last November — and the government’s broader security strategy have been effective in reducing violence in the state. At a national level, homicides declined almost 30% annually in the first five months of 2026, according to data the government presented in mid-June. Murders declined in 28 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities in the period.
Today’s mañanera was significant as it provided a specific snapshot of the improving security situation in Michoacán, a snapshot that is indicative of a broader trend across most of the country.
That is not to say that Mexico doesn’t have major security problems. It does. On average, more than 1,500 people were murdered in each of the first five months of the year, and more than 130,000 Mexicans are officially classified as missing. However, the government is making progress, and that is a positive sign.
Homicides decline significantly in Michoacán
National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa presented data that showed that there was an average of 2.33 homicides per day in Michoacán in June. She highlighted that the daily rate last month represents a decline of 46% in homicides compared to January 2025, which was the most violent month in Michoacán since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024.
The data showed that the average daily homicide rate in Michoacán was even lower in May (2.10), April (2.23), March (1.90) and February (2.11).
Figueroa also highlighted that the daily homicide rate last month was the lowest of any June in the past 12 years. She said that homicides declined 43% annually in June of this year, although the data she presented indicated that the reduction was slightly lower than that.
Figueroa also presented data that showed that the average daily homicide rate in Michoacán in the first six months of 2026 was 2.2, representing a 37% reduction compared to the daily average across 2025. Compared to 2021, a year in which there was an average of 7.5 homicides per day in Michoacán, the decline in the first half of 2026 was 70.7%.
Finally, Figueroa reported that a daily average of 17.5 high-impact crimes were committed in Michoacán during the first six months of 2026, a 3% reduction compared to 2025. Among the offenses classified as high-impact crimes in Mexico are homicides, femicides, kidnappings, extortion and violent robberies.
More than 1,300 arrests in Michoacán since Sheinbaum took office
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported that 1,342 people were arrested in Michoacán between Oct. 1, 2024 and June 15, 2026, for allegedly committing high-impact crimes.
In the same period, 1,398 firearms and more than 35,000 kilograms of drugs were seized, and authorities dismantled 30 clandestine drug laboratories.
García Harfuch said that “these results” have a direct impact on the operational, logistical and financial capabilities of criminal groups that operate in Michoacán, Mexico’s top avocado-producing state and a major grower of limes.
Consequently, criminal groups — which are known for extorting avocado and lime producers — have “less capacity to extort, attack, recruit young people, control territory and affect the productive life of Michoacán,” he said.
García Harfuch told reporters that “the instruction of the president of Mexico is clear: maintain the presence of the security cabinet in Michoacán; strengthen local authorities with greater capacities of intelligence and investigation in order to combat, among other crimes, extortion; sustain targeted operations … [against criminal groups]; … respond to reports [of crime]; and strengthen the 089 extortion hotline service to continue encouraging reports [from citizens].”
Plan Michoacán: Sheinbaum presents 12-point, US $3.1B strategy to pacify the state
The security minister stressed that the security results in Michoacán don’t mean “the job is done” or that crimes are no longer committed in the state.
“On the contrary, the president’s instruction is to redouble efforts. Combating extortion in Michoacán is a priority for the president of Mexico. That’s why the institutions of the federal security cabinet maintain close and constant coordination with the government of Michoacán with the objective of detaining those who generate violence, protecting citizens and guaranteeing that there is no impunity,” García Harfuch said.
Sheinbaum says she has ‘no fear’ of visiting ‘critical areas’ of Michoacán
Asked whether she was afraid of visiting the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán, where the extortion of lime producers and packers is a big problem, Sheinbaum said she was not.
The reporter also asked the president why she hadn’t visited Uruapan, where Mayor Carlos Manzo, an outspoken anti-crime crusader, was shot dead last November.
“Why don’t we see you in critical areas?” she asked Sheinbaum.
“I’ve been in the critical areas,” the president responded.
Sheinbaum subsequently said that she maintains personal contact with Grecia Quiroz, the widow of Carlos Manzo and now the mayor of Uruapan, “by chat.” Quiroz’s requests are “immediately” attended to, she said.
Sheinbaum noted that she has visited Michoacán various times as president, and said she would continue to travel to the state.
“The president moves around the whole country, but we have the presence of the Defense Minister [Ricardo Trevilla Trejo] and the security minister, who have been to Uruapan around three or four times,” she said.
Pushed as to whether she would visit the Tierra Caliente of Michoacán and Uruapan at some point, Sheinbaum said she would “on another occasion.”
Asked whether she was afraid of visiting such places, the president responded:
“No, no fear. In fact, everyone in the [security] cabinet goes, and I will also personally go.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
