Mexico president's response to historic femicide protests: more of the same

A day after thousands protested against the murder of women and girls, López Obrador said he would ‘reinforce the same strategy’

David Agren in Mexico City
@el_reportero
Tue 10 Mar 2020 23.15 GMT
Last modified on Wed 11 Mar 2020 00.43 GMT

A day after Mexico’s women collectively shut down the country in an eruption of fury over gender violence, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has insisted that he will not try a new strategy to stop femicides.

Thousands of women went on strike on Monday, in a historic protest against the murder of women and girls – and the failure of successive governments’ efforts to stop a crisis in which around 10 women are murdered every day.

But asked on Tuesday if he would consider a new approach to the problem, López Obrador replied: “No – on the contrary, we are going to reinforce the same strategy of looking at the causes of violence.”

The comments echoed the president’s previous response to Mexico’s spiraling drug war violence, which he has insisted can be reined in with an ill-defined policy of “moral renewal”.

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