Mexico’s National Defense Minister, Ricardo Trevilla, announced on Tuesday the deployment of over 12,000 security agents to the southern state of Guerrero, an area recently plagued by violence and insecurity following a series of armed attacks.

Trevilla explained that the contingent consists of more than 4,200 military personnel and an additional 8,400 members of the National Guard. These forces are operating across three distinct fronts where “local group confrontations” have led to a severe state of instability and violence.

The Defense Minister also highlighted that more than 670 marijuana plantations have been destroyed, over 430 kilos of marijuana seized, and more than 1,400 kilos of cocaine confiscated. To date, authorities have detained over fifty individuals.

In recent weeks, Guerrero has seen a wave of armed attacks by criminal organizations, including Los Adillos, who are responsible for the killing of the Chilpancingo mayor and eleven other members of a local family, as noted by El Universal newspaper.

Rafael weakened on Sunday into a low-pressure system over the Gulf of Mexico, after striking Cuba last week as a Category 3 hurricane, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) based in Miami.

The NHC reported on Sunday that the post-tropical cyclone was located about 560 kilometers (345 miles) north-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 55 km/h (35 mph). It was moving eastward at 6 km/h (3 mph) and was expected to turn south towards southern Mexico as it continued to weaken.

Meteorologists warned that the storm was likely to produce dangerous waves and rip currents along parts of the northern and western Gulf coast.

Rafael made landfall on Wednesday in western Cuba. Its strong winds left the entire island without electricity, forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, and knocked down hundreds of homes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24, as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

The upcoming summit, the first held after the expansion of BRICS, has attracted significant attention from the international community, stated another spokesperson for the ministry, Mao Ning.

According to Mao, Xi will participate in both small and large leader meetings and the BRICS Plus leaders’ dialogue, delivering important speeches. He will also engage in in-depth exchanges with leaders from other countries regarding the current international situation, practical BRICS cooperation, the development of the BRICS mechanism, and other significant issues of common interest.

Mao noted that since the inception of BRICS, member states have committed to upholding multilateralism and becoming a positive, stabilizing, and benevolent force in international affairs.

China is willing to work with all parties to ensure stable and lasting progress in BRICS cooperation, open a new era of unity and overcoming challenges for the Global South, and jointly promote global peace and development, added Mao.