Mexico's new president is getting a very in-your-face lesson about hugs and bullets. As you may remember, her predecessor Andres Lopez-Obrador changed the approach and implemented the idea that hugs were more effective than bullets to fight criminal elements. It sounded good until the message was returned to sender address unknown, to paraphrase Elvis. I guess that the bad guys are not into hugs!

Lots of bullets south of the border. Let's check it out:

A shootout between two battling criminal groups in Mexico's southern Pacific state of Guerrero on Thursday left 16 people dead, authorities said, as the country has been hit by a wave of recent violence.

Around 5 a.m. on Thursday morning, warring cartels were facing off in the state's rural, mountainous region, which has become a battleground in past years as groups work to expand their territory.

Local police were caught up in the attack and two officers were killed and four injured, Mexico's defense ministry said in a statement. The wounded are now stable after receiving medical attention.

There is Guerrero again, and I am not talking about Pedro, the great Dodgers' power hitter of the last time that New York played Los Angeles in the '81 World Series.

I am talking about the state of Guerrero, one of the states under fire at the moment. I don't want to spoil your party but Acapulco is in the state of Guerrero.

Will all of this violence change the strategy of bullets and hugs? Well, "la presidenta" blessed her predecessor's policy. I guess that she wants to hug a little tighter and hope a woman's touch will fix the problem. Time will tell but don't be on it.

Last, but not least, I've noticed something in the conversation in Mexico. Years ago, most of my Mexican friends discounted all of the talk about cartels and simply blamed the U.S. for consuming illegal drugs. Here recently, I hear more and more about violence and "crimen organizado” or organized crime.

No one seems to discount the topic anymore. Yes, we need to stop buying these drugs but more is concerned, especially what's happening in the small states and cities.

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Image: BaptisteGrandGrand