“Despite Mexican government statistics adding up to more than 110,000 murders during Calderón’s term, the international press continues to report estimates of the death toll in Mexico ranging from 50,000 to ‘more than 60,000.’” — Molly Molloy, border and Latin American specialist at the New Mexico State University Library.
The majority of world media consistently reports the murder rates in Mexico from the 2006-2012 as being anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000, including most U.S. media and me. New numbers have emerged estimating the number of Mexican murders closer to 110,000.
The new numbers come from New Mexico State University professor and librarian Molly Molloy. She is regarded by many journalists who cover the Mexican drug war and academics who study the issue as a leading expert. She runs the popular Frontera List, an informative, though intensely left-of-center, posting of informative articles pertaining to the drug war and Mexican cartels. Even Sylvia Longmire, one of America’s foremost experts on Mexican cartels and the drug war, said she trusted Molloy’s numbers in the regard and that her research methods were sound. The comments from Longmire came in a recent interview with Breitbart News.
Molloy attributes the lower official numbers to the former presidential administration of Mexico’s Felipe Calderón. When Calderón’s administration left office, the Mexican attorney general released higher numbers than had previously been made public. These newer estimates put the murder toll at 47,000 from 2006-2012.
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