Mexico Suffers Deadliest Month on Record, 2017 Set to Be Worst Year

An empty 7.62mm case shot with an assault rifle remains near the place where Mexican journalist Candido Rios was killed in front of a petrol station in Hueyapan de Ocampo, Veracruz state, Mexico on Aug. 23, 2017. Rios, who was under government protection was shot dead Tuesday in the violent state of Veracruz, officials said, the 10th journalist murdered in Mexico this year. Victoria Razo/AFP/Getty Images

MEXICO CITY–There were more murders in October in Mexico than in any month over at least 20 years, according to official data, in the latest grim milestone in 2017, a year on course to register the highest homicide tally since modern records began.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s failure to tackle growing drug violence is seen as a major weakness ahead of next July’s presidential election, where he faces an uphill battle to keep his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in power.