Mexico is settling into a violent status quo

Deadly violence in Mexico declined from January to February this year, with homicide cases falling from 1,941 to 1,838 and homicide victims falling from 2,156 to 2,098.

The month-to-month respite may be little relief, as the first two months year have continued a string of violent records, both exceeding their counterparts last year in terms of homicides.

Moreover, the first two months of this year are the deadliest such period on record.

January's 2,2156 homicide victims were 38.8% more than recorded in the same month last year, and February's 2,098 homicide victims were a 30% increase over the second month last year.

The number of homicide cases, which can contain more than one victim, were up in January and February by 34.6% and 24.3%, respectively, over January and February 2016.

The 3,779 homicides cases recorded over January and February are a 29.4% increase over the same period in 2016 and the most experienced in Mexico over that period since the government started releasing statistics in 1997. (It didn't start releasing data for homicide victims until 2014.)

The first two months of 2011, amid the climax of the "war against narco trafficking," had a similar number of homicides, 3,554, though, as Mexican news site Animal Politico notes, that is still well short of what was seen over the first two months this year.

Despite the decrease in monthly homicides between January and February this year, last month's figures continue the increase in violence that's been seen in Mexico over the last two years of President Enrique Peña Nieto's term.

Peña Nieto, who took office in December 2012, presided over two years of declines in deadly violence. The government was quick to take credit for those reductions, but 2015 saw an 8% increase in homicides over 2014, and 2016 had a 22% spike in killings over the year before.

In many areas of Mexico, state-level homicide numbers ticked down from January to February, but violence-prone areas of the country saw increases.

Homicides in Guerrero rose from 165 to 175; Michoacan went from 130 to 138; Sinaloa went from 118 to 124; Veracruz jumped from 119 to 142.

Much of southwest Mexico, including Guerrero and Michoacan, has been wracked by drug-related violence.

Nearby Colima, which has the smallest population in Mexico, has seen a surge in homicides as cartels compete for its valuable port. Though between January and February this year the number of homicide victims in the state fell by more than half.

In Veracruz, long a battle ground of the Zetas and Gulf cartels, the Jalisco New Generation cartel has reportedly joined the fray, and 300 skulls have been found in mass graves there over the last week.

Mexico is settling into a violent status quo

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!