The official version against bullets
Two dead and thirteen injured. That is the result of an armed attack yesterday in the archaeological zone of Teotihuacán. A sacred place, a world heritage site, converted into a scene of violence.
Today, in her morning conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum had a main message: Mexico is safe. Your proof? Tourism numbers.
“It is so safe to be in Mexico that 16 million people arrived from January to February, foreign visitors, 16 million. So, yesterday’s episode is an episode that had not occurred in Mexico.”
There you have it. A tragedy becomes ‘episode’. An unprecedented violent event—according to her—is diluted among statistics of international arrivals. The logic is curious: because tourists come, there is security. Even if there are shootings in emblematic places.
And the actions? Protocols upon protocols
When faced with the obvious question—what will they do?—the answer was the same as always: investigations and protocols. Sheinbaum mentioned that they are already working to determine the attacker’s motivations.
Regarding the alert issued by the United States embassy, which recommended its citizens contact authorities if they were close to the attack, the president was clear: “they have their own protocols for issuing these calls”. Translation: to each his own movie.
And with the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, the script repeats itself. After the death recorded in the opening match at the Banorte Stadium, they promise to strengthen protocols. They found that “it took a long time to enter the stadium”.
So there’s the plan: less entry time and more coordination with FIFA. Because what matters is ensuring that sporting events continue. The message between the lines is clear: incidents are just that, incidents. Normality—and tourist numbers—must prevail.
The contradiction put on stage today was masterful. While the families of two deceased mourn their loss and thirteen people recover from injuries, we are presented with a safe country because visitors arrive. Memory is short, but statistics are long.
