NY Times: Life in Mexico’s Most Dangerous City: Bodies Roll Down the Street

And then, a month ago, the day came when gunmen broke into her home, dragged her 15-year-old son and two of his friends outside, and shot them. Guadalupe, who was unwilling to have her name revealed, and her husband were too scared to leave.

“I don’t want night to come,” she said through tears. “It is scary to live in fear.”

For most residents of Fresnil, a mining town in central Mexico, such a terrifying existence is the only life they remember: 96 percent of the population say they feel unsafe.

This is the highest percentage in all of Mexico, according to a recent survey by the National Statistics Agency of Mexico.

The economy can go up and down, presidents and parties can come and go, their promises can change, but the 140,000 inhabitants of this city, like many Mexicans, increasingly feel that violence no matter what changes.