Mexican president says government not talking with criminal gangs

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said his nine-month-old administration’s efforts to bring down record rates of violent crime do not include talks with criminal gangs or armed self-defense groups.

On Tuesday, Mexico’s interior minister told reporters the government was holding talks with “various groups” in states hard hit by violence, in response to a question about organized criminals. She later clarified that she was referring to self-defense groups.