Tragic dates when death is celebrated, and not commemorated. La Catrina is having a party. Mexico has bled in the last three six-year terms; The official figures recall the worst wars, going from 120,463 murders during the six-year term of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) 156,066 with Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018). The administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) closed as the most violent six-year term in recent history, accumulating approximately 199,619 homicides. Now, the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum, which in its first year (Oct. 2024 – Sep. 2025) has registered 25,848 homicides, faces the same monumental challenge.
The increasingly forgotten tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic not only left an excess of mortality that shot total deaths to a peak of 1,122,249 in 2021, but erased decades of progress: life expectancy at birth collapsed, falling from 75.1 years in 2019 less than 70 years in 2021, according to Inegi data. The fragility of health systems at all levels of government was thus exposed.
Added to this, a range of unaddressed preventable diseases and conditions shows the devastating panorama of mortality in Mexico, where there is an evident generational fracture. While the main causes of death in the general population are dominated by chronic conditions—these being heart diseases (with 192,563 preliminary deaths in 2024), the diabetes mellitus (112,641) and the malignant tumors (95,237) the first three—, the reality of young people is radically opposite.
For the 15 to 29 year old group, the main threats are not diseases, but external causes. In this group, the assaults (homicides)los accidents and the self-inflicted injuries (suicides) They are consolidated as the main causes of death. At the national level, these causes totaled more than 81,000 lives in 2024 (33,241 from homicides, 39,729 from accidents and 8,856 from suicides), drawing a scenario of social vulnerability and violence that contrasts drastically with the health profile of the rest of the country.
The most revealing fact of our failure is found when comparing life expectancy. Although Mexico suffers from the same causes of death as the “first world”—heart disease and diabetes—we do not have their longevity. The average lifespan in the OECD is 80.3 yearsand in countries like Japan or Switzerland it exceeds 84 years; In Mexico, where we occupy last place in the OECD, we struggle to achieve the 75.5 years. This gap of 5 to 9 years is the cost of a health system that fails in prevention and of an epidemic of violence that, by killing our young people, drags down everyone’s average. In short: we suffer from the diseases of the developed world without its ability to survive.
What these figures reveal is not only a human tragedy, but demographic and economic suicide. A country that loses its population aged 15 to 29 due to violence, accidents and suicide, and not due to old age, is annihilating its demographic bonus. The future workforce, innovation capacity and taxpayer base that should support a population that, ironically, is also aging, evaporates. It is a hemorrhage of human capital that no scholarship can replace and no social program can compensate.
Ultimately, this represents a profound crisis of meaning that collides head-on with our identity. Octavio Paz, in The labyrinth of lonelinessdefined the Mexican as someone who “pursues death, mocks it, caresses it… celebrates it,” but he was referring to ritualized death, that which completes the cycle of life. The death we suffer today—that of the young man in confrontations, that of the ambushed politician, that of the missing woman, that of the journalist or that of the silenced community leader—is the opposite: it is sterile death, absurd death. And this is where the tragedy becomes psychologically unbearable. Viktor Frankl defined that “suffering, in a way, stops being suffering the moment it finds meaning.” The problem of violence in Mexico is not only death; It is the absolute and corrosive lack of meaning that accompanies it.
The figures do not seem to have an impact on the approval of the government, since there is a population that supports it, but surveys should not be the issues that govern public policies. Health and safety must be priorities of every government; Protecting life and health are, in essence, the reason for the existence of the State.
The loss of a young person is also the loss of a child: a pain that is simply unimaginable, unrepresentable and unnameable. It represents the systemic failure of the prevention of risky behaviors. It is due to multifactorial conditions ominously ignored: the normalization of substance consumption; minimizing the risk of violence; lack of parental supervision; the fracture of the family as a guardian entity; the cheapening of divorce and the selfishness of adults in the face of the needs of minors. It is striking that there are increasingly more public policies for the care of pets than for children: dog parks, government pet hospitals. It is, in short, the failure of institutions, from the family to the educational, health and security systems.
The mental health of children has not been a priority. As social psychologist Erich Fromm warned: “Indifference and disinterest are the subtlest form of violence.” And in this case, it is the violence of official omission. Without serious prevention and care programs, the national destiny is at risk. Therefore, scholarships are not enough if, in exchange, places for free drug consumption are promoted instead of offering comprehensive care; Scholarships are not enough if there are no alcohol-free recreational spaces; It is not enough if arts, culture and sports are not promoted. It is insufficient if the levels of educational and training requirements are relaxed, or if resentment is instilled in the study plans, denying, for example, our Hispanicity in favor of a unilateral vision of history.
Today, we highlight deaths whose meaning reveals the state of affairs in a country that urgently needs to rebuild and heal. Just a few days before the assassination of Mayor Manzo, Bernardo Bravoleader of the lemon producers in Apatzingán, was also shot. Bravo dared to do the unthinkable in an area silenced by terror: organize his union and publicly denounce extortion and the “collection of the floor” of organized crime. His death was the response to his bravery, a clear message that the voice raised against submission will be silenced.
Bravo’s murder was the prologue. days later, Carlos Manzomunicipal president of Uruapan, Michoacán, was killed with five bullets during the celebrations of the dead. Despite the multiple calls he made to reinforce the security of the municipality, the national perception is that he was left alone; Even though in official communication he had 14 members of the National Guard, nothing prevented organized crime from silencing him. Beyond the official explanations, these crimes will remain one of the great blood stains of the current administration.
In contrast, another death that we remember this month involves paying tribute: that of Jesús García Corona, the “Hero of Nacozari.” On November 7, 1907, this young 25-year-old engineer sacrificed his life by taking control of the locomotive (known as “Engine 501”), loaded with burning dynamite, and speeding it away from the mining town. His death saved Nacozari, Sonora, from total destruction.
Today, more than a century later, Carlos Manzo and Bernardo Bravo are different heroes; They wanted to keep their population away from the burning dynamite of organized crime. Manzo’s railroad was public policy, social contact and the call to families to take care of their children. Bravo’s was the call for unity under the premise that “together we are stronger” and that “silence is also complicity.” We hope that their sacrifice not only remains in the unveiling of plaques, busts and monuments, but also makes us reflect deeply that division is no longer an option. I hope your call, now, echoes in the National Palace.
The myth of Icarus is the tragedy of hibris (arrogance). When power stops listening to the opposition, minimizes popular sentiment, scolds and contravenes journalists and dismisses all criticism as the product of a conspiracy, it is repeating the flight of Icarus. He falls, not because of the conspiracy of the sun, but because of his own euphoria: drunk with his own height, he convinces himself of his infallibility and, deaf to warnings, forgets that his wings are made of wax. By flying too close to the sun, the fall becomes inevitable.
Today the country mourns the deaths of men, children, young people and women; deaths that should not occur and that, under statistics, are normalized, erasing names and stories due to figures and trends. In Discontent in cultureSigmund Freud warned that the inclination to aggression is “the greatest obstacle to civilization.” The problem is that, in Mexico, that obstacle has become the way.
Even though there are still photos, copal, bread of the dead, food and marigolds on the altars, death stopped being commemorated on November 1 and 2 to establish itself as the new ruler of national destiny.
About the author:
*Edgar Alonso Angulo Rosas is a clinical psychologist and addiction expert with extensive experience in prevention and care of violence, addictions, mental health and human rights. He has held management positions in NGOs, public and private sectors.
Email: (email protected)
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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