MEXICO CITY (CN) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced her Michoacan security plan - Michoacan Plan for Peace and Justice - on Tuesday in response to critics of her security policies in the aftermath of the brazen murder of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo on Saturday night.

The three-tiered plan revolves around security and justice, economic development and education and culture of peace.

"It starts from a deep conviction that security is not sustained by wars, but by justice, by development and by respect for life. Peace is not imposed by force, it is built with people, with communities and with the daily work of those who love their land," she said in a press conference Tuesday.

Sheinbaum again called out her critics for politicizing violence and suffering after calling them "vultures" on Monday.

"In recent days we have seen pain and indignation for the cowardly murder of Mayor Carlos Manzo, from Uruapan. We share that feeling. His cowardly murder hurts not only his family and his community, but all of Michoacan and the country," she said.

This week, protesters demanded justice in Uruapan and Morelia, the state capital of Michoacan, for the slain mayor as well as a general call for peace in the state. Other protests occurred in smaller municipalities of Michoacan, which included road blocks and cancelled classes.

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, co-director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, said Sheinbaum's plan is more of the same false promises from her campaign.

"I don't see what the results of the comprehensive strategy are, but they are telling us that there are less homicides. But what about extortion? What about disappearances? What about other crimes?" she asked.

Correa-Cabrera went on to say that a lack of armed conflict isn't necessarily a sign of peace either, and can be a sign of deeper corruption that needs solving.

"It just means criminal organizations control an entire territory, which is equally disturbing," she said.

Correa-Cabrera is familiar with extortion rackets, as her father works in the construction business in Michoacan, and explained how local gangs can control entire territories and do business with local politicians.

"Nobody who wants to work decently can work. And if you want to work, you need to pay piso," she said, referring to cobro de piso, which is forced protection money paid to criminals.

"It seems to me that the only way to address the issue is to solve the issue of impunity and corruption," Correa-Cabrera said. "I'm tired of listening to the same solutions. It's too late for intelligence and coordination."

Part of Sheinbaum's Michoacan plan is to provide more rural infrastructure investment, better wages for agricultural day laborers and a more robust and anonymous system for extortion victims, all with an open dialogue between civil and government institutions to achieve peace.

Manzo was an outspoken critic of the Sheinbaum-led Morena party for not being tough enough on organized criminals and even publicly called for his local police to shoot those who led extortion rackets in the Uruapan avocado market.

Cartels have long targeted the lime and avocado trade in Michoacan. The latest incident occurred on Oct. 20 when Bernardo Bravo was kidnapped and tortured, his body dumped in a burned-out truck in Apatzingan, where he was the leader of a lime growing association. Bravo was known for standing up to his extortionists and refusing to pay them.

Sheinbaum has been credited for cracking down on crime by launching Operation Northern Border in February in response to Trump's ongoing tariff threats. Since Feb. 8, 694 people have been arrested in the six border states of Mexico where the operation is centered.

Despite this in Sinaloa, an ongoing war between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel has been raging.

Between January and September, the Mexican government has recorded 1,302 intentional homicides in the state, the highest in a decade.

On Monday, Mexican security forces killed 13 members of an armed group during a security patrol in Guasave, Sinaloa.

Source: Courthouse News Service