New Delhi, July 10 -- criminal complaints filed with American prosecutors against the officials responsible.

The announcement on Wednesday marked a shift in how Mexico has chosen to handle what its government now describes not as a pattern of unfortunate incidents but as a pattern of unlawful killings. Sheinbaum said Mexico would file formal criminal complaints with US state and federal prosecutors in cases where the deaths had been classified as homicides or human rights violations. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco specified that the government was moving from diplomatic representations - the letters sent, the protests registered, the calls placed - to direct legal engagement with the American prosecutorial system.

The numbers Velasco ...