here we are institutional leaders, not half-measures
En una nación donde la seguridad sigue siendo un bien desigualmente distribuido, Torreón ha cruzado un umbral que pocos habrían anticipado: la ciudad industrial del corazón lagunero figura hoy entre las seis más seguras de México. El gobernador Manolo Jiménez Salinas presentó este logro no como fortuna, sino como consecuencia de una voluntad institucional sostenida, respaldada por cifras históricas —86 homicidios en todo Coahuila durante 2025, el nivel más bajo en treinta años— y una tasa de resolución de casos del cien por ciento. Es un momento que invita a reflexionar sobre lo que es posible cuando el Estado y la sociedad civil deciden actuar con coherencia y sin medias tintas.
- Torreón, ciudad que cargó durante años con una reputación de violencia, aparece ahora en el sexto lugar nacional de seguridad urbana percibida, según la encuesta INEGI aplicada a 110 municipios.
- Los tres municipios coahuilenses incluidos en el estudio —Torreón, Saltillo y Piedras Negras— ocuparon posiciones dentro del top seis nacional, una concentración que difícilmente puede atribuirse al azar.
- El dato más contundente no es la percepción ciudadana sino el registro forense: 86 homicidios en todo el estado durante 2025, el mínimo en tres décadas, y todos los casos resueltos.
- El gobernador señala la coordinación institucional sin concesiones y el compromiso activo del sector empresarial como los pilares que sostienen esta transformación.
- Las preguntas que el momento no responde —si la coordinación resistirá el tiempo, si la inversión privada en seguridad se mantendrá— flotan sobre un logro que, por ahora, es real y verificable.
El gobernador Manolo Jiménez Salinas presentó ante los medios un dato que habría parecido inverosímil hace apenas unos años: Torreón, motor industrial de la región Laguna, se había convertido en la sexta ciudad más segura de México. Lejos de atribuirlo a la suerte, el mandatario lo enmarcó como el resultado de un trabajo institucional deliberado y sin atajos.
El reconocimiento proviene de la Encuesta Nacional de Seguridad Pública Urbana del INEGI, que mide la percepción ciudadana de seguridad en 110 municipios del país. Los tres municipios coahuilenses incluidos —Torreón, Saltillo y Piedras Negras— quedaron todos dentro del top seis nacional. Para Torreón, era la primera vez en su historia que alcanzaba semejante posición.
Detrás de la percepción, los números concretos reforzaban el argumento: en 2025, Coahuila registró solo 86 homicidios en todo su territorio, la cifra más baja en treinta años. Más revelador aún fue que el cien por ciento de esos casos quedó resuelto, una señal de que las instituciones no solo prevenían, sino que respondían con capacidad real cuando la violencia ocurría.
Jiménez Salinas destacó dos factores como columnas del modelo: la coordinación institucional sin compromisos a medias y el involucramiento pleno del sector empresarial, dispuesto a comprometer recursos y capital político en la defensa de la región. Para quienes llegaban a invertir, dijo, encontraban condiciones que en el contexto nacional representaban un privilegio.
El gobernador marcó un umbral cruzado, sin pretender que las preguntas sobre su permanencia ya tuvieran respuesta. Lo que sí tenía respuesta, al menos por ahora, era el resultado.
Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas stood before reporters and made a claim that would have seemed improbable just years earlier: Torreón, the industrial heart of Coahuila's Laguna region, had become the sixth safest city in Mexico. It was a milestone the governor wanted the state to understand not as luck, but as the fruit of deliberate institutional work.
Jiménez Salinas framed the achievement in terms of comparative advantage. He acknowledged that comparisons can feel invidious, yet insisted they serve a purpose—they show you where you stand. By his measure, Torreón had become one of the most desirable places in the country to live and invest, a status that might appear accidental to outsiders but reflected something more intentional to those who had watched the work unfold. When business delegations and investors came to assess the region's prospects, he suggested, they encountered conditions that amounted to privilege in a nation where security remained fragile in many quarters.
The ranking came from the National Urban Public Security Survey, conducted by Mexico's statistical agency INEGI, which measures citizen perception of safety across 110 municipalities nationwide. Three of those municipalities sit in Coahuila—Torreón, Saltillo, and Piedras Negras—and all three had placed within the national top six. For Torreón specifically, this marked the first time in its history that it had achieved such a standing.
The governor attributed the result to institutional coordination and political will. He emphasized that the state had committed fully to security strategy without compromise or half-measures. Institutions, he argued, had to lead—that was foundational to any genuine security framework. He also singled out the business community, describing entrepreneurs as fully invested in defending the Laguna region, willing to commit resources and political capital to the effort.
The numbers supported his narrative. In 2025, Coahuila recorded 86 homicides across the entire state—the lowest total in three decades. More striking still was the resolution rate: one hundred percent of those cases had been solved. That statistic, the governor emphasized, represented what Coahuila and Torreón now embodied at the national level.
The claim rested on a particular kind of measurement—citizen perception rather than raw crime counts—and on a specific moment in time. Yet the homicide figures were concrete and verifiable, and the resolution rate suggested that when violence did occur, the state's institutions responded with capacity and follow-through. Whether the perception would hold, whether the institutional coordination would endure, and whether the business community's commitment would remain constant were questions the governor did not address. For now, he was marking a threshold crossed.
Citas Notables
Torreón is without doubt one of the best places in Mexico to live and invest, because it has conditions that might seem like chance but represent privilege when you compare them to other regions.— Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas
We commit fully and without compromise; here institutions lead, which is fundamental to genuine security.— Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When a governor claims his city is the sixth safest in Mexico, what's actually being measured—is it real safety, or how safe people feel?
It's the latter. INEGI's survey asks citizens about their perception of security, not crime statistics directly. That's a different animal. People's sense of safety depends on visibility of police, news they hear, whether they've been touched by violence personally. It's real data, but it's subjective.
So Torreón could have serious crime but citizens don't perceive it?
Theoretically, yes. But the governor also cited the homicide numbers—86 in all of Coahuila in 2025, the lowest in 30 years. And he said 100 percent of cases are resolved. That's harder to spin. If you're actually solving murders, people notice.
Why does he keep saying institutions have to lead? What does that mean in practice?
It means the police, prosecutors, and courts have to function without interference or corruption. If a murder happens and nobody gets arrested, people lose faith. If arrests happen but cases disappear, same thing. He's saying Coahuila's institutions are actually working—that's rare enough in Mexico to be worth highlighting.
He thanks the business community specifically. Why would investors care about security rankings?
Because they can't operate in chaos. A factory owner, a distributor, a retailer—they need predictable conditions. If their employees are afraid, if shipments get hijacked, if there's extortion, the business dies. A city known as safe attracts investment and talent. That's not altruism; it's self-interest aligned with public safety.
Is there a risk in claiming victory too early?
Always. Security is fragile. One cartel war, one institutional failure, one corrupt official, and the ranking collapses. The governor is marking a moment, not guaranteeing a future. Whether Torreón holds this position in two years is an open question.