The federal government on Sunday announced that it would deploy almost 2,000 additional troops to Michoacán as part of a broad plan to pacify the state, one of Mexico’s most violent.
The announcement came during the presentation of the newly-formulated “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” a 57-billion-peso (US $3.1 billion) initiative that the government devised in response to the murder of the mayor of Uruapan on Nov. 1 and general insecurity in the state.
Speaking at the National Palace in Mexico City on Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum described the plan as a “comprehensive strategy,” noting that it is based on 12 central tenets and includes “more than 100 actions.”
She said that the plan, which she first announced last Tuesday, will be funded by “mixed investment” — i.e., public money and resources from private companies, which are slated to invest in a range of infrastructure projects in Michoacán.
“I will personally follow up on Plan Michoacán every 15 days and we will provide public accounts of the progress every month at la mañanera,” Sheinbaum said, referring to her morning press conference.
She has stressed that her government’s plan is not akin to the militarized and highly controversial “war” against drug cartels launched by former president Felipe Calderón in Michoacán almost 20 years ago.
“Peace is not imposed with force,” Sheinbaum said when she first announced Plan Michoacán.
“… “This is very different” from the “war against el narco,” she said. “It’s a comprehensive plan.”
Michoacán was Mexico’s seventh most violent state in terms of total homicides in the first nine months of 2025, with a total of 1,024 murders, according to data presented by the federal government last month.
The assassination of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo — an outspoken anti-crime crusader — triggered protests in various parts of Michoacán and reignited the national conversation about insecurity in Mexico, and the debate over how best to combat it. The person who shot him at a Dead of the Dead event in Uruapan’s central square was identified as a 17-year-old methamphetamine addict, who was killed by a municipal police officer shortly after he allegedly opened fire.
Beyond targeted killings and armed clashes involving rival criminal groups, and cartels and authorities, extortion targeting producers of avocados, limes and other crops is a major problem in Michoacán, the hub of Mexico’s lucrative avocado industry. The state is also coveted by crime groups because precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, are illegally imported via the Lázaro Cárdenas port on the Pacific coast.
1,980 additional troops
Top officials from departments across the federal government, as well as Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, accompanied Sheinbaum at the presentation of Plan Michoacán at the National Palace. Indeed, as the president indicated, the plan aims to be a whole-of-government response to entrenched crime and violence in Michoacán.
National Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said that his ministry’s contribution to the initiative will include the “Paricutín Operations Plan,” aimed at “preventing extortion and containing homicides and other high-impact crimes,” among which he mentioned the trafficking and production of drugs.
He said that 1,980 additional troops would be deployed to Michoacán on Monday, and highlighted that a total of 10,506 members of the Mexican Army, Air Force and National Guard will participate in “Plan Paricutín,” named after an inactive volcano in the state.
As part of the plan, Trevilla said that the military will carry out an ambitious operation to “seal the state of Michoacán so that crime groups don’t come into or leave the entity.”
“How will it be carried out? Through concurrent operations with the territorial commanders from the states of Colima, Jalisco, Querétaro, Guanajuato, México state and Guerrero,” he said, listing the states that share a border with Michoacán.
The defense minister also said that helicopters, drones and anti-drone systems, among other military resources, will support the beefed-up anti-crime mission in Michoacán.
Navy operations to focus on coastal municipalities and the sea
Navy Minister Raymundo Morales said that almost 1,800 navy personnel supported by aircraft, vessels and more than 100 vehicles will carry out land operations in Michoacán’s three coastal municipalities — Lázaro Cárdenas, Aquila and Coahuayana — and sea missions aimed at combating maritime drug trafficking off the state’s coast.
“These actions will be complemented by operations from Colima, Guerrero and México state in order to act against specific targets, dismantle and neutralize drug production laboratories, locate and neutralize training camps, and counter the tactical vehicles of organized crime,” he said.
The tenets of Plan Michoacán
Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez highlighted that the Michoacán Plan was devised following consultation with residents of Michoacán and representatives of “all sectors of society” in the state.
“We listened to requests, concerns and demands, which led to the presentation today of the Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” she said.
Rodríguez said that the plan encompasses 12 ejes, or core tenets:
- The provision of security.
- The provision of “economic development with well-being,” including through the establishment of new industrial corridors and supporting farmers.
- The development of new highway infrastructure.
- The development of new water infrastructure.
- The provision of support for citizens via the government’s welfare and social programs.
- The improvement of education.
- The improvement of health care.
- Investment in housing.
- Investment in culture.
- Enhanced support for women.
- Enhanced support for young people.
- The provision of justice plans for Indigenous peoples.
“Starting next week, on the instruction of the president, there will be territorial presence [of the federal government] in the municipalities of the state of Michoacán,” Rodríguez said.
“Representatives from federal government ministries will be visiting [residents] house by house, municipality by municipality, to provide comprehensive attention to the people of Michoacán,” she said.
Other federal government ministers elaborated on specific Plan Michoacán initiatives and “actions” in a range of areas, including economic development, agriculture, electricity, tourism, employment, infrastructure development, support for women, water, education, health care, culture and welfare. Some of the initiatives are long-term ones that will take years to complete. Others are aimed at enhancing and/or expanding existing government projects.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said that “as part of Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice, we will strengthen the four ejes of the national security strategy in the entity,” among which are attention to the root causes of crime and the enhancement of intelligence and investigative practices.
He said that “the security of Michoacán is a national priority,” and noted that members of the federal security cabinet will visit various municipalities of the state’s municipalities in the coming days, including Uruapan at the request of Mayor Grecia Quiroz, who replaced her slain husband while still grieving his death.
Governor: ‘We have to put an end to this violence’
Ramírez, Morena party governor of Michoacán since October 2021, asserted that the people of Michoacán “feel protected due to the solidarity of our President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and her great cabinet” — even though the federal government and state authorities faced criticism from protesters who took to the streets of Michoacán last week.
The governor said that his government remains “distraught” and in mourning over the death of Manzo, but is also “working” on improving the security situation in Michoacán.
“The protests … are a legitimate cry of pain, but also a starting point,” Ramírez said.
“I’ve already said it and today I reiterate it: I very much regret the death of a young and brave mayor,” he said.
“… On a human level I feel it much more deeply because I know what it means for a family … [to lose] a father due to violence,” said Ramírez, who noted that his own father was murdered in Uruapan when he was 10.
“The murder of Carlos took me back to my past,” he said.
“… I’m convinced that we have to put an end to this violence, but not with more violence,” Ramírez said before expressing confidence in Plan Michoacán.
“… My government will accompany this plan with 2.7 billion pesos for security, young people, culture, tourism, health care, support for the countryside and infrastructure,” he added.
“We know that Michoacán is going through a time of profound social demand. Now is the time to turn that anger into collective action.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
