Officials report 63% drop in Chiapas homicides: Friday’s mañanera recapped

• 📉 Chiapas homicides down 63%: Speaking from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Sheinbaum touted security gains under Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, saying “people feel safer in Chiapas today than they did two years ago.” Officials reported the daily homicide rate fell 63% in the first eight months of 2026 compared to 2024, with 9,949 arrests and 18.6 tonnes of drugs seized in the southern state since Sheinbaum took office.
• 📚 Pencils over screens after poor PISA scores: Responding to this week’s PISA results showing 41.8% of Mexican 15-year-olds scored below basic level in math, science and reading, Sheinbaum announced new math and reading textbooks for teachers and students, and highlighted plans to regulate device use in schools while pushing a “return to pencil and paper.”
• 🏥 CJNG ‘clandestine hospital’ found in Jalisco: García Harfuch confirmed that a property in Tecalitlán used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to treat injured members was uncovered during the search for a missing 20-year-old man, who was among eight people freed from the site.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the southern state of Chiapas.

At the start of the mañanera, Sheinbaum said that since Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar took office in December 2024, and “with the coordination with the federal [Security] Cabinet,” the security results in Chiapas have been “very good, not just in the reduction of homicides and other high-impact crimes, but also in the perception [of insecurity].”

“People feel safer in Chiapas today than they did two years ago,” she said.

Later in the press conference, security officials presented the latest data on homicides, high-impact crimes and arrests in Chiapas, a state where violence increased significantly in 2024, especially near the border with Guatemala.

Also of note at today’s mañanera were Sheinbaum’s remarks on how the government plans to improve both the teaching and learning of mathematics and reading in Mexican schools. Her comments came three days after the publication of PISA testing results that showed that around four in 10 Mexicans 15-year-olds scored below the basic level in science, mathematics and reading.

Homicides down 63% in Chiapas compared to 2024 

National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa noted that the homicide rate in Chiapas remained “quite stable” between 2015 and 2023 before increasing significantly in 2024, a year in which an average of 2.4 murders per day were committed in the state.

She noted that the daily homicide rate in the first eight months of this year was 0.9, representing a reduction of 63% compared to 2024. The year-over-year decline was 10%, according to the data presented.

Figueroa also reported that the daily homicide rate in Chiapas in August — 0.9 — was 64% lower than the rate in December 2024, the month Ramírez was sworn in as governor.

With regard to high-impact crimes, among which are homicides, kidnappings, violent robberies and acts of extortion, the daily incidence in Chiapas in August was 2.7, a reduction of 44% compared to November 2024. The data presented by Figueroa showed that the daily incidence of high-impact crimes rose 8% between August 2025 and August 2026.

Later in the press conference, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported that 9,949 people were arrested in Chiapas between Oct. 1, 2024 — the date Sheinbaum took office — and Aug. 31, 2026, for allegedly committing high-impact crimes. Authorities seized 1,545 firearms and 18.6 tonnes of drugs in the state in the same period.

Sheinbaum outlines strategies to improve educational outcomes 

A reporter asked the president whether Mexico’s education system needs to be strengthened in light of the PISA results published this week. In testing for the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment, 41.8% of Mexican 15-year-olds scored below the basic level in the science/math/reading triad, more than double the 19.7% average across OECD countries. Education Minister Mario Delgado on Wednesday addressed the low scores earned by Mexican students by blaming “the excessive use of cell phones and computer screens.”

Sheinbaum asserted that “education in Mexico is getting stronger,” before acknowledging that Mexican students have ground to make up.

Education Ministry blames screen use for Mexican students’ falling scores

“We have to make progress in mathematics. We’re going to have a special textbook next year for the learning of mathematics, to help the teachers and the students,” she said.

Sheinbaum subsequently highlighted that Mexico wasn’t the only country to score poorly in the reading domain of the PISA testing.

She said that “all the countries of the world” scored poorly on reading, “with the exception of four or five, due to the use of digital platforms.”

“[That was] acknowledged by the education area of the OECD. Young people, girls and boys, stopped reading and understanding what they read due to the excessive use of digital platforms, which is something that we’re now addressing,” Sheinbaum said, referring to a plan to implement national regulations on the use of devices in schools.

“[We’re going to] return to pencil and paper, pen and paper, and reading,” she said.

Sheinbaum said the teaching of reading and writing in Mexican schools will also be supported by a new textbook.

She said that the new textbook (or likely textbooks for different grades) will include poems and short stories that girls and boys “should know.”

Clandestine CJNG hospital discovered in Jalisco 

A reporter asked García Harfuch about the discovery of a clandestine Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) hospital in the state of Jalisco.

🚔 En rueda de prensa se informó que la Vicefiscalía en Personas Desaparecidas, en coordinación con la Guardia Nacional y la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, realizó un operativo en Tecalitlán que permitió rescatar a ocho hombres y detener a seis personas. (1-3) pic.twitter.com/Vbe47OAf8T

— Fiscalía del Estado de Jalisco (@FiscaliaJal) September 10, 2026

The Informador newspaper reported on Thursday that the search for a 20-year-old man who went missing in Tlaquepaque in July led authorities to a property in the municipality of Tecalitlán that was used as a clandestine hospital by the CJNG. Informador noted that six people were detained at the property. Eight alleged victims of forced recruitment, including the missing 20-year-old, were freed.

García Harfuch confirmed that injured “organized crime people” were treated at the property. He added that investigations related to the discovery of the property are still being carried out.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)