The Latin American Report # 562

Authorities in the violent Mexican state of Guanajuato report that nearly half of the 32 bodies found in several clandestine graves in the community of La Calera, Irapuato municipality, have been identified. The body recovery operation and subsequent identification process have been underway since late July, according to statements from forensic teams working with the Guanajuato state prosecutor's office. The first half of the current year closed with 1,500 homicides there, thus disputing the unfortunate national leadership in this statistic with the state of Sinaloa.

The national government acknowledges 132,000 missing persons due to the internal war against or inside the organized crime, which claims many innocent lives. Several civil society organizations dispute that official figure, sparking intense debate last year over a government statistical review initiative that challenged the social perception. Frequently, groups formed by relatives of those disappeared undertake independent searches for their loved ones.

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Last Saturday, six people—maybe linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel—were murdered when gunmen traveling in six trucks stormed a residence in the Santa Mónica Ozumbilla community, in Guanajuato's Yuriria municipality. Meanwhile, in the northern border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas state, the representative of the federal prosecutor's office was killed yesterday (Monday) in an attack that included the cinematic use of grenades.

About U.S.-Mexico trade, unrelated to the tariffs saga 👇

Regional news briefs

• President Gustavo Petro's "Total Peace" policy continues to falter amid lack of progress or breakdowns in government negotiations with guerrilla and criminal groups, and internal disputes within these organizations. According to Army information reported by EFE, at least three soldiers were killed in an attack this Tuesday involving explosives and rifle fire in Chita municipality, Boyacá department, attributed to a structure of the National Liberation Army (ELN in Spanish) calling itself the "Adonay" front.
  

• In Paraguay, the National Anti-Drug Secretariat reported the seizure of over one metric ton of pressed marijuana in southern Ñeembucú department, allegedly destined for the Argentine market. As usual, no arrests were made in the operation.
  

• Meanwhile in Central America, a Panamanian multi-agency force intercepted nearly two tons of drugs, allegedly cocaine, in two containers aboard a ship scheduled to depart for Hamburg, Germany. The vessel had docked at Bahía Las Minas port terminal and originally departed—as you might guess—from Ecuador. Last week, Panamanian authorities also seized nearly 1.5 tons of drugs in four containers destined for the United Kingdom.
  

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