REUTERS/Daniel Becerril May was the deadliest month recorded in Mexico since the government began releasing homicide data in 1998. The country has seen a sustained increase in violence over the past three years. May's record-setting bloodshed comes just a month before nationwide elections that will select the country's next president. The steady increase in deadly violence that Mexico has experienced over the past three years continued in May, when 2,890 people were killed — an average of 93 a day, or almost four victims an hour. The total number of victims surpasses the 2,746 recorded in March to make May the deadliest month this year, and it topped the 2,750 victims registered in October, making May the deadliest month in two decades, the period for which the government has released homicide data.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: Here's what 'Narcos' and 'Sicario' get right and wrong about drug cartelsSee Also:The Trump administration wants the Pentagon to hold thousands of immigrant children on military basesHere's how Mexican cartels actually operate in the United StatesA Pepsi bottler is shutting down operations in one of Mexico's most violent states — 3 months after Coca-Cola left the same townSEE ALSO: A Mexican presidential campaign blamed Russia and China for a cyberattack, but a bigger online threat is closer to home