Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has expressed optimism that social programs are making progress in addressing insecurity and violence.
"We are taming the problem of insecurity and violence" in Mexico because social programs "are having an effect," he said.
On Saturday, the Mexican president announced a security plan specifically designed for the Gran Nayar, the mountainous territories of Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango and Zacatecas, where the traditional authorities of indigenous peoples have requested the construction of National Guard barracks.
López Obrador has met with representatives of N'ayeri and Wixárika communities in Nayarit and Jalisco and they raised their concerns about the high levels of insecurity.
López Obrador assured that the request is important because it shows that "the communities have taken care of and preserved tranquility in their towns, but there are already very powerful criminal groups and the support of the State is required".
"We want to continue being what we are, indigenous people, but we also want to live in accordance with the times we are living in," said Martín Valentín Vargas, one of the N'ayeri traditional governors. He has asked for services such as infrastructure, education and health.
For his part, López Obrador has called for an end to racism and has assured that his government is allocating "more support to indigenous municipalities, because justice is giving more to those who have less".
In Mezquitic, Jalisco, together with Governors Navarro and Enrique Alfaro, López Obrador received from traditional authorities a proposal to issue a decree to recognize and protect the sacred places and pilgrimage routes of the Wixárika (Huichol), O'dam (Southern Tepehuanes), N'ayeri (Cora) and Mexicanero or Mexica (Nahua) peoples.
In presenting the Justice Plan for the Wixárika People, the representatives of the indigenous communities asked for the protection of five sacred sites in particular: Tatéi Haramara in Nayarit, Tee'kata and Xapawiyemeta in Jalisco, Hauxamanaka in Durango and Wirikuta in San Luis Potosí. They also requested to reinforce the presence of the NG in the region.
López Obrador committed to initiate the revision of the decree and announced that he will ask the head of the Ministry of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, to design an integral security plan for Gran Nayar. With this, he affirmed, the requested barracks will be built so that the indigenous peoples "can have the security and protection they deserve".