Over the span of a decade, under the administrations of Omar Fayad Meneses of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and Julio Menchaca Salazar of Morena, Hidalgo fell from first to ninth place nationally in the Índice de Paz México 2026.
In the 2026 edition, the state dropped one additional position compared to the previous year, when it ranked eighth.
According to the measurement by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), criminal activity cost Mexico’s 32 states a combined 76.9 billion pesos during the evaluated year.
After the results were released, the Hidalgo state government stated in a press release that:
“Hidalgo remains among the top 10 most peaceful states in Mexico,” attributing this to “the precise implementation of a comprehensive strategy based on crime prevention, operational intelligence, and community engagement, led by Governor Julio Menchaca.”
Organized crime violence in Hidalgo
The period evaluated by the report was marked by a violent conflict between two factions of the former criminal organization known as Los H or Los Solas in the Valle del Mezquital region.
The dispute reportedly resulted in:
- armed attacks
- mass killings
- massacres
- extreme torture
- mutilated bodies
Authorities attribute the violence to competing groups fighting for territorial control over fuel theft operations and local drug trafficking.
Another hotspot identified in the report is Cuautepec de Hinojosa and nearby municipalities in the Valle de Tulancingo, where the group known as Los Cenobios allegedly remains active and involved in fuel theft conflicts with criminal groups originating from northern Puebla.
Fuel theft remains a major issue
In 2025, Hidalgo ranked for the eighth consecutive year as the Mexican state with the highest number of illegal pipeline taps, recording 2,785 clandestine connections used to steal diesel, gasoline, and petrochemicals from Petróleos Mexicanos pipelines.
The report notes that while peace in Mexico overall improved by 5.1% — marking the sixth consecutive year of improvement after four years of major deterioration — Hidalgo was among the ten states where peace conditions worsened.
Comparison with Sinaloa
The report highlighted the recent escalation of violence in Sinaloa as an example of how organized crime disputes can rapidly destabilize a region.
According to the study, Sinaloa experienced the greatest deterioration in peace nationwide in 2025 due to internal conflicts within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Although Hidalgo was not explicitly singled out in the same way, the report noted that the state also experienced setbacks related to armed confrontations among organized criminal groups, particularly in central and southwestern regions.
Governor Menchaca himself acknowledged on February 23 that rival groups were linked to incidents involving severed human heads left with narco-messages in Tula de Allende and a mutilated torso found in a water canal in Alfajayucan.
Hidalgo’s peace score
Hidalgo received a peace score of 2.296 on the index’s scale from 1 to 5, where:
- 1 represents the most peaceful conditions
- 5 represents the least peaceful conditions
For comparison:
- Yucatán ranked first with 1.279
- Colima ranked last with 4.579
The index evaluates:
- homicides
- organized crime activity
- violent crimes
- firearm-related offenses
- fear of violence
Economic impact of violence
The report also noted that Hidalgo experienced one of the country’s largest increases in the economic impact of violence.
While only three Mexican states saw increases in this category during 2025, Hidalgo ranked second behind Sinaloa.
According to the IEP:
“Sinaloa recorded by far the largest increase, at 38.5%, followed by Hidalgo and Veracruz, where the economic impact of violence increased by 8.9% and 1.3%, respectively.”
The per capita economic impact of violence in Hidalgo reached 23,629 pesos, while the total economic impact amounted to 76.9 billion pesos.
Between 2015 and 2025, this represented a 43.9% increase.
Government response
Despite the findings, the Hidalgo government emphasized what it described as “institutional strengths,” arguing that homicide levels remain relatively controlled.
Officials highlighted that the state’s homicide score of 1.580 ranked 12th nationally and remained below the national average.
The government also argued that Hidalgo shows a smaller gap between actual crime levels and public perception of insecurity compared to other regions of Mexico.
Authorities insisted that:
“Economic development and social peace advance together through a firm security policy led by Governor Julio Menchaca Salazar.”
Violent incidents continued during the report’s release
Ironically, the same day the report was presented — May 19 — authorities discovered a body showing signs of torture in Zempoala.
According to local police, the victim’s body was naked, bore multiple injuries, and showed evidence of an attempted burning.
The previous day, May 18, two more bodies with gunshot wounds and signs of violence were found in farmland near Zempoala.
Another double homicide occurred in Mixquiahuala de Juárez in the Valle del Mezquital region.
Meanwhile, in Actopan, a 25-year-old woman was fatally shot in what authorities are investigating as a femicide.
Source: proceso
