Mexico City.- The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, asked this Friday for respect for his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, who criticized the situation of insecurity that is being experienced in Mexico and assured that violence can be contained state by state as he has done in his country.
“He was elected by his people, but at the same time We ask for respect for Mexico"Respect, always respect. That's the hallmark of diplomacy. So, I respect what we do in our country," the president concluded during her morning press conference.
The Mexican leader reacted in this way to the statements of Bukele, who on Thursday in a message on social networks spoke about the insecurity that Mexico is experiencing.
“28 of Mexico's 32 states have a population equal to or less than that of El Salvador. Why, then, can't they resolve the security issue in a single state with fewer inhabitants than El Salvador, given the resources of a country with 130 million people?” Bukele questioned on X.
The Salvadoran president, who since coming to power implemented a controversial fight against crime in his country With a tough strategy against gangs and zero tolerance for crime, he gave recommendations to contain violence and insecurity in Mexico.
"Resolve the security issue in one state first, then the next, and so on, until you cover those 28 states," he said.
The proposal arose after the Central American president shared a publication that states that It is “absurd” to compare the security situation in El Salvador, which covers just over 21,000 square kilometers, to that of Mexico, which covers more than 9 billion square kilometers.
In 2023 only 154 homicides throughout El Salvador, a drastic drop compared to the more than 2,390 murders reported in 2019, the year Bukele assumed the presidency.
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However, Bukele's strategy has received criticism from international organizations human rights organizations that accuse it of violating people's human rights and that the measures implemented under the emergency regime could set a dangerous precedent for other governments.
Still, Sheinbaum avoided entering into a debate over Bukele's statements.
"I'm not going to enter into a debate with Bukele. Honestly, we could have a whole debate here about how they're dealing with this," he said.
