In the long run,
the facts are on the side of the optimists.
To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., the arc of history bends toward progress. But progress doesn't just happen. People work hard to discover ways forward.
The What Works Initiative
highlights positive outcomes on difficult issues – and how people achieved them.
Two years ago, Mexico was a war zone of militarized drug cartels that led the world in murdered journalists, killed over 400 police officers annually, and assassinated more than 30 candidates and nominees to office. Its cities were among the most dangerous in the world.
It’s different now. The murder rate is down to half its 2020 level. Federal security forces have put the cartels on the defensive.
Mexico remains highly violent. The rate of disappearances is still high, with the missing persons list now surpassing 135,000. The cartels are diversifying into legal industries and extorting local businesses. They are increasingly abducting people to work for them.
But the violence is measurably down under President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president.
Sources: Bloomberg; The Guardian; Americas Quarterly