AA / Tunis / Majdi Ismail
Mexicans who return their weapons to the government will receive $200 (4,080 pesos) for a grenade launcher and up to $1,300 (26,450 pesos) for a light or heavy machine gun, says the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial). ) published Monday January 6.
The weapons raid in Mexico is part of a public program called ”yes to disarmament, yes to peace” and aims to encourage ”the exchange of firearms for financial incentives,” underlines the government press release, taken up by Libération.
The operation will be carried out by the Ministries of Defense, Interior and Public Security.
The Mexican Executive had assured that citizens have the possibility of depositing their weapons even in the country’s churches. President Claudia Sheinbaum, who initiated this disarmament policy to fight against criminalization, then insisted on the absence of legal proceedings for repentant firearms owners, in accordance with her plan for a “global strategy” ‘ security.
This program was implemented in May 2019 in Mexico City by Claudia Sheinbaum, then mayor of the capital of 9.2 million inhabitants.
Thanks to this policy, 8,797 weapons and nearly 1.2 million rounds of ammunition were returned between January 2019 and May 2024, according to local authorities.
This system will now be extended to the entire Mexican territory, the new president wanting to curb crime.
Mexico recorded 31,062 homicides in 2023, 70% of which were caused by firearms, according to preliminary data from the National Institute of Statistics. Three-quarters of homicides are linked to clashes between criminal groups for control of roads or drug markets, declared former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
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