Gang-buster: Can Sheinbaum beat Mexico crime?
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.6 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
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Summary
This weekend, thousands of people protested in Mexico City about violent crime. But our correspondent notes that the government has had some success in confronting drug gangs and cutting homicides. Three years ago Japan’s former prime minister Abe Shinzo was assassinated. Now his killer is on trial. And celebrating the life of the bomb-disposal mastermind Peter Gurney.
For “The Weekend Intelligence”, our Mexico bureau chief Sarah Birke recently visited the Mexican city of Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa state, which is suffering a brutal “narco-pandemic”. Subscribers can listen here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm your host Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:15.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the event shaping your world. |
| 0:20.0 | Three years perspective on the event shaping your world. |
| 0:30.3 | Three years ago, former Prime Minister Abbe Shinso was killed in Japan by an assassin with a homemade gun. |
| 0:35.6 | Now the shooter's trial is underway, our correspondent explains what this case tells us about the state of the country today. |
| 0:39.7 | And grenades and mortars were okay. |
| 0:42.8 | Terrorist devices, with their unpredictable wiring and explosives, were trickier. |
| 0:47.6 | Peter Gurney spent decades defusing bombs all over the world. |
| 0:51.8 | Our obituary's editor marks his peaceful passing. |
| 0:55.0 | But first... This weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in Mexico City, protesting about violent crime. |
| 1:18.6 | Masked demonstrators tore down fencing around the National Palace, home to President Claudia Seymbaum. |
| 1:26.6 | Police say at least 120 people were injured in the |
| 1:29.6 | clashes. The protests follow weeks of rising anger after the assassination of Carlos Manzo, |
| 1:37.8 | popular mayor of Uralra Pan, who was known for cracking down on drug gangs. |
| 1:51.4 | Many members. who was known for cracking down on drug gangs. Many Mexicans see Manzo's killing as an emblem of the government's wider failure to control these cartels. |
| 1:54.8 | Yet Shane Baum has made cutting crime a priority. |
| 1:58.2 | And unlike predecessors who promised the same, she's actually getting some results. |
| 2:02.6 | Early evidence after the first year of Claudia Shane Baum's time in power suggests that she and her security minister, Omar Hafouch, are actually doing a fairly good job. |
| 2:14.6 | Sarah Burke is our bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. |
| 2:21.3 | Violent crime has fallen somewhat, but they still face a humongous task. |
... |
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