Today’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 📉 Colima homicides down 26%: National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa reported that the state’s daily homicide rate fell 26% in 2025 to 1.7, though February’s rate rose 49.6% compared to the same month last year.
- 🪖 2,790 arrests and a major federal deployment in Colima: Security Minister García Harfuch said Colima is a priority for the government, with 4,000+ federal forces deployed, nearly 2,800 arrests for high-impact crimes, and 4.5 tonnes of drugs seized since Sheinbaum took office.
- 🇨🇺🇺🇸 Sheinbaum welcomes Cuba-US talks: Asked about Cuban President Díaz-Canel’s announcement that Havana held talks with the Trump administration, Sheinbaum responded “qué bueno” — adding that Mexico will “always promote peace and diplomatic dialogue,” particularly given what she called the longstanding injustice of the US embargo against Cuba.
Why today’s mañanera matters
President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Manzanillo, a Pacific coast city in Colima that is home to Mexico’s largest port.
Sheinbaum regularly holds her Friday mañanera in a regional city before embarking on a weekend tour to inaugurate infrastructure projects, promote her government’s welfare programs and get up close and personal with her many supporters across Mexico.
At today’s press conference in Colima, Mexico’s least populous state, security was a key focus and for good reason. The state has long been the country’s most violent in terms of homicides per capita.
A key reason why violence is a major problem in the state is the presence of the Manzanillo port, a major entry point to Mexico for illicit products, including Chinese precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl. Criminal control of the port is thus highly coveted by crime groups, as are trafficking routes that run north and northeast from the Pacific coast state.
Today’s mañanera was important simply due to the presence in Colima of Sheinbaum as well as top security officials, including Security Minister Omar García Harfuch and Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo.
They were able to tout some progress in reducing violence in the state, the setting of Juan Rulfo’s legendary novel “Pedro Páramo.”
Homicides declined 26% in 2025
National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa reported that the daily homicide rate in the state of Colima in 2025 was 1.7, down 26% compared to the previous year.
She also reported that the daily homicide rate in February was 2.14, down 25% from the peak during Sheinbaum’s administration to date, which was a rate of 2.87 murders per day in November 2024.
The data Figueroa presented also showed that the homicide rate last month increased 49.6% compared to February 2025.
Almost 2,800 arrests in Colima since Sheinbaum took office
García Harfuch told reporters that Colima is a “priority entity for the government of Mexico,” before noting that more than 4,000 members of federal security forces including the Army, the Navy and the National Guard are deployed to the state.
The security minister said that between Oct. 1, 2024 — the date Sheinbaum took office — and March 10 of this year, 2,790 people were arrested in Colima for allegedly committing high-impact crimes such as murder, kidnapping and extortion.
Among those detained were 54 alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who were taken into custody during a Navy operation in November.
Desde Manzanillo se informa que de 2024-2025 se disminuyeron los homicidios dolosos en Colima en 26%. Entre septiembre de 2024 y febrero de 2026 los delitos de alto impacto disminuyeron en 27%. La Estrategia de Seguridad avanza e incluye jornadas de acercamiento con la comunidad. pic.twitter.com/YQLg15dijY
— Jesús Ramírez Cuevas (@JesusRCuevas) March 13, 2026
García Harfuch also reported that more than 4.5 tonnes of drugs were seized in Colima in the 17-month period to March 10.
Sheinbaum pleased that Cuba and US are talking
A reporter asked the president her opinion on the announcement by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel that his government held talks with the Trump administration.
“Qué bueno,” responded Sheinbaum, who had said on repeated occasions that Mexico could act as mediator in diplomatic talks between Cuba and the United States, if those two countries were willing to engage with each other.
In a message broadcast on Friday morning, Díaz-Canel said that Cuban officials “recently” held talks with U.S. government representatives “to seek through dialogue the possible solution to bilateral differences.”
The U.S. government has effectively stopped oil from reaching the Communist-run Caribbean island, exacerbating what was already a grim situation in Cuba, as President Donald Trump pushes for political change, if not regime change, in the country.
Mexico, the top supplier of oil to Cuba in 2025, recently ceased sending oil to the island due to a tariff threat from Trump. However, last month Mexico shipped more than 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cuba.
On Friday morning, Sheinbaum said that Mexico will “always promote peace and diplomatic dialogue” between countries, “particularly in the face of this injustice that has been committed against the people of Cuba for many years.”
She was referring to the longstanding U.S. embargo against Cuba, which she said has caused a range of different problems.
“It’s essential that there is this dialogue [between Cuba and the U.S.],” Sheinbaum said, adding that Mexico would continue supporting the Cuban people in any way it can.
Díaz-Canel said there were “international factors” that facilitated his government’s talks with the Trump administration, but Mexico wasn’t directly involved, according to Sheinbaum.
She said that Mexico’s role was one of “promoting dialogue” to both U.S. and Cuban authorities.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
