President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to bring down gang-fueled violence afflicting Mexico when he took office in December 2018, but homicides hit a record level in 2019 and have continued to climb even during the coronavirus lockdown. Worsening violence around Mexico in recent years reflects an increasingly volatile criminal landscape. The increase in violence is nationwide. The grisly crime wave will likely apply new pressure on the president to change tack. Investigators need to be able to dismantle whole networks that support drug gangs. Several other children were injured in the attack, the family said. Last year, a quarter of all murders in the country were concentrated in five cities: Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border, and Cancún, Acapulco and Culiacán. Mexico’s current president has emphasized social policies and job creation that will dissuade young people from joining gangs. “For me, this looked like the futile struggle of a drowning man more than a show of strength,” said cartel expert Tomas Guevara. The idea of using the armed forces to end the violence sounds appealing, but the reality is much more complex. Our reporters — Elisabeth Malkin and Kirk Semple in Mexico City and Elizabeth Dias in Washington — have answered a selection. They live and operate in communities. The attackers, who are believed to be members of organized crime, opened fire on three vehicles the family was traveling in, according to relatives and government officials. As old political power structures make way for new ones, cooperation between corrupt officials and criminal groups falls apart, spurring violent struggles for new cooperative arrangements. But many of the victims’ relatives told us about the peaceful environment they have experienced there. Violent drug cartels are most active along much of the border with the United States, and along the Pacific Coast. Nearly 20 suspects have already been arrested in the case, according to Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, including the man described as the leader of the attempted assassination. Have there been other issues against Mormons in Mexico or is this truly random?— Susan Murphy, Los Angeles. Just over 34,600 murders were logged in Mexico in all of last year. In the year through April, there were 314 femicides, a crime described under Mexican law as murder of a woman for reasons of gender. The United States State Department maintains updated advisories here. However, he has conceded Mexico must do better, and this month ordered the armed forces to help handle security on the streets for another four years, extending a policy pursued by his predecessors he had long criticized. The victims’ extended family that lives in La Mora, their community in northern Mexico, is an independent fundamentalist Mormon group, meaning they are not affiliated with a specific church or prophet. The victims’ families are not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the mainstream church headquartered in Utah, but a church spokesman said it was “heartbroken” to hear about the tragedy. Is there a real chance Mexico cracks down on the cartels because of all the recent violence? Some family members worry that maybe their community is being targeted, but they do not yet know why, or the full details of what happened. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Mexico Prevalence Data on Different Forms of Violence against Women: Lifetime Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence : 24.6 % Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months : … The gangs’ firepower is extraordinary, and it almost all comes from the United States. But this approach could take years to work — if it works at all. The 38-year-old Garcia Harfuch - who was shot in the shoulder, collarbone and knee during the attack - defiantly pledged to keep working. A few parts of the country, like Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, are considered to be as safe as Europe. Security camera footage showed heavily armed and mostly hooded cartel hit men pouring out of a truck after blocking the roadway and unleashing hundreds of rounds on Garcia Harfuch’s armored SUV. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Is Mexico Growing More Violent? Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he would focus his crime-fighting strategy on addressing the problem at its roots, by investing in social development programs and initiatives that alleviate poverty. Indiscriminate mass arrests by soldiers will just fill prisons with people who will eventually be released for a lack of evidence against them. Do the fundamentalists feel like they’re being attacked because they practice polygamy?— Claire Carlson, Portland, Ore. While cartel gunmen failed to kill Garcia Harfuch in Friday morning’s daybreak hit in one of Mexico City’s most upscale neighborhoods, two of his bodyguards plus an innocent bystander on her way to work were gunned down in the crossfire. The mainstream Mormon Church and the fundamentalist sect? And obviously, the family is devastated. Authorities and the victims’ families do not yet know the motive of the crime. That said, the situation in Mexico is fluid. In January, 10 indigenous musicians were ambushed in western Mexico Deadly attacks by gunmen on targets including an amusement arcade and a … The National Guard and the Army took several hours to reach the area, which is very remote, after the families alerted the authorities. The police forces need to be effective at all levels in Mexico’s federal system. There is broad agreement on several steps that Mexico needs to take if the government is ever going to turn the tide. That means creating police forces that can investigate crimes, appointing (and protecting) strong prosecutors to present cases that hold up in court and weeding out corrupt judges. The government has arrested many kingpins, but that has only increased the violence because organizations have fractured into smaller groups led by more ruthless lieutenants. We asked readers their questions about the killings and the escalating violence in Mexico. Many analysts described the hit as a show of strength by CJNG and evidence that drug gangs are probably expanding their presence in Mexico’s capital. Or are there places where one can expect a safer existence?— Robert McKelvey, Portland, Ore. However, during Lopez Obrador’s first full year in office last year murders hit a new record, and the homicide rate is on pace to surpass it this year. The president has also come under fire for the government’s record on tackling violence against women. In October 2017, Mexico suffered its deadliest month since it started keeping such data in 1997, with 2,371 murder investigations. Lopez Obrador has taken a more conciliatory strategy to tackling violence, one that aims to focus on the causes of crime, in particular by reducing poverty and corruption. Even in the case of Cancún, the tourist areas are fairly insulated from the city’s broader violence. That is one part of the problem, but that is a long-term policy. Yes, it is safe for Americans to travel in most parts of Mexico, although tourists should exercise caution, just as they would in some parts of the United States. The family itself is the religious community, and family members are its leaders. Mexico in late March began imposing restrictions to curb the coronavirus outbreak, a development that some analysts hoped might lead to a reduction in criminal violence. These gangs are not an army with a fixed position that can be attacked. Just over 34,600 murders were logged in Mexico in all of last year. Unlike his predecessors, Lopez Obrador has sought a less confrontational approach to crime-fighting, preferring to attack what he describes as root causes like poverty and youth joblessness, via social spending. “We won’t let them intimidate us,” he said.